


Dragonquest: A Tale of Two Women

by silveradept



Series: The Suck Fairy's Greatest Hits: The Dragonriders of Pern [2]
Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Abuse, Animal Abuse, Commentary, Depression, Domestic Violence, Existential Crisis, F/M, Infertility, Mental Instability, Meta, Misogyny, Nonfiction, Patriarchy, Rape Culture, Sex-Negative Attitudes, Sexism, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, Victim Blaming, ablism, infantilization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 26,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23144851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: A commentary read with excerpts of Dragonquest, the second of the Dragonriders of Pern novels.
Relationships: Brekke & Mirrim (Dragonriders of Pern), Brekke/F'nor | Famanoran, F'lar | Fallarnon/Lessa, Kylara/Meron (Dragonriders of Pern)
Series: The Suck Fairy's Greatest Hits: The Dragonriders of Pern [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663699
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16





	1. Begin At The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Director's Cut of meta originally posted at [Slacktiverse](https://slacktiverse.wordpress.com).
> 
> Content notes for each chapter are in their respective posts, and all content notes in the work are in the tags.
> 
> Director's commentary will be rendered _[in a manner like this.]_

Welcome back, everyone! Our chronology continues with Dragonquest, the second book of the Dragonriders of Pern series. This book opens with a similar Prelude as Dragonflight, with spoilery, scientific data about Pern and the Thread menace, which will be skipped (again) except for the last few bits of data, that says seven Turns have passed since the end of Dragonflight, and the dragons and riders who have come forward from the ancient past are not adjusting well to the new times. This is also the first plotted-novel work in the series, so we can hope that there will be better cohesion and less of things falling into the main character's laps with a token amount of effort.

 **Dragonquest: Chapter I: Content Notes: Sexism, misogyny, rape culture, possibly ableism**.

The narrative proper opens with Masterharper Robinton trying to compose a song about Lessa's cross-time adventures, and before I even escape the first page, I'm almost ready to shout "Fuck this, there's nobody who isn't going to use abusive metaphor, so why bother?"

> He fancied the sand begged to be violated with words and notes...

Really? Inanimate objects being referred to in assault and rape language right at the beginning? Argh.

Robinton has heard ugly rumors that Fort Hold and Fort Weyr are having a falling-out, with Fort Weyr's Weyrleader, T'ron (from the past) sleeping around with Hold girls and the Weyrwoman, Madra (also of the past), in his opinion, hanging on to her post instead of retiring. From Dragonflight, though, we learned that Weyr culture provides very few opportunities for women to exercise power, so it's understandable that Madra would not want to just step down from the post.

Since it's been three years since Dragonflight was published, we also get Robinton's perspective on how both F'lar and Lessa look and act.

> Unconsciously the Harper smiled as he pictured the dainty, child-size Weyrwoman, with her white skin, her cloud of dark hair, the flash of her grey eyes, heard the acerbity of her clever tongue. No man of Pern failed of respect for her, or braved her displeasure, with the exception of F'lar.  
>  [...]  
>  Benden's Weyrleader, with his keen amber eyes, his unconscious superiority, the intense energy of his lean fighter's frame.

So we're clear, then? Lessa is small, delicate, and armed with soft-power weapons, like an acid tongue. People respect her because she can make life hell for anyone who crosses her, but if it ever came to a physical confrontation, Lessa would always be, well, _lesser_. Which means Lessa has power only because the men let her, or because she's backed by F'lar, who is the hard power of the relationship, with his fighter's frame.

Also, "unconscious superiority" bit? Bullshit. F'lar, as Dragonflight pointed out to us, had no scruples at all about pushing advantages, making others feel small, or resorting to outright abuse to get his way. It's deliberately cultivated, nothing unconscious about it, except that F'lar does it without thinking about it now.

Members of the supporting cast are also introduced.

> [...]Fandarel, the Mastersmith, with his endless curiosity, the great hands with their delicate skill, the ranging mind with its eternal quest for efficiency. Somehow one expected such an immense man to be as slow of wit as he was deliberate of physical movement.  
>  [...]  
>  Lytol who had once ridden a Benden dragon and lost his Larth in an accident in the Spring Games...he had been Crafthall Master in High Reaches Hold when F'lar had discovered Lessa...F'lar had appointed Lytol to be Lord Warder of Ruatha Hold when Lessa had abdicated her claim to the Hold to young Jaxom.

So the Mastersmith looks like the big dumb guy perfectly suited to the stereotype of a manual laborer, although we can read it charitably to suggest that Robinton knows full well that the appearance is highly deceiving, since he's been able to see the work Fandarel can turn out on a regular basis. Back in Dragonflight, though, Fandarel spoke in extremely clipped patterns, made out to sound like he isn't all that smart outside of his specialization. I'm hoping at some point, everyone gets floored by how brilliant Fandarel really is, and that his apparent slowness is something adopted so that he doesn't have to spend so much time with clueless -ists admiring how educated and articulate such a big man is. Something preferably in the style of Alice Cooper backstage in Wayne's World, while I'm imagining things that aren't going to happen.

Lytol gets a big revisionist bit - perhaps Robinton doesn't know the full story of Lessa's revenge, but making the claim that F'lar appointed Lytol after Lessa abdicated subtly massages the part where F'lar legitimized Jaxom, and by extension Lytol, by _ignoring_ Lessa's superior claim in favor of a one-off by Fax that was never meant to be serious. Because she was a woman, and women can't have actual power ever. What power they can have must drive from a man, even though there's been reference to a piece of lore about a woman who does audacious and cool things. So there's precedent.

We skip away to F'nor, F'lar's half-brother (the practical one who thought to check and see whether Jaxom existed when Lessa was getting revenge, instead of just getting straight into a duel to the death with Fax, as F'lar had) and his dragon, Canth, musing on the tension between the Oldtimers' (interesting choice of name, there, as if the narrative wasn't sure that we understood who's in the right and who isn't) Weyrs and their areas of protection - it's deliciously telling to have F'nor talk about, on one paragraph, how F'lar was the only one who believed in tradition (Traditioooooon!) to keep his Weyr ready for the now-inevitable return of Thread, and in another paragraph, to criticize the Weyrleader of Fort Weyr, T'ron (time-skipped) for being far too wrapped up in tradition (TRADITIOOOOOOOON!) to produce large dragon clutches, or, for that matter, to maintain a good working relationship with the people in his protection area. 

F'nor's modern sensibilities are informed by a time where the Weyrs were considered unnecessary and a drain on resources, fighting against an enemy that hadn't shown itself for generations. For the time-skipped group, they just got done fighting Thread and have now been pulled forward in time to fight it again - there's no adjustment to the new age there, and so they continue to act as they would normally. Which is basically a protection racket. "Nice Hold and fields you have there. Be a real shame if Thread got to it. But if you purchase our product with your tithes, send us your women and men when we need them, and make sure that you understand who the real bosses are around here, I think that will get on just fine. If not, well, you can try to catch all the burrows with your flamethrowers and chemicals, but we both know how that will turn out." The dragons and their riders are expecting deference that they haven't earned yet, and have not yet arrived at the reality that even if you are running the neighborhood, you still have to have your legitimate businessmen and a cordial relationship (if not outright corruption and control of) with the other powers, so that nobody gets it in their head to mount a rebellion and that all such exercises, if undertaken, result in the offending leader wearing cement shoes in the middle of a Threadfall. 

So F'nor agrees with F'lar's remarkable pragmatism and forward-looking stance in running Benden in contrast to the time-skipped riders doing what has been working for them for quite some time, without anyone having thought to bring them up to speed on their history in the seven Turns' time since they arrived. And, for their part, the time-skipped riders seem to be immune to the proof that Benden Weyr offers, by existing and by its data regarding clutch sizes, queen eggs produced, accidents at Impressions and so forth, that making practical changes to the tradition (traditiooooooon!) has better results. This is shaping up to be an Idiot Ball plot, which does not bode well for anyone. 

F'nor also makes a mention of something the narrative has glossed over to this point, though the first book, and does so in the context of justifying using older boys' increased emotional maturity and sound judgment as reasons for choosing them as candidates for newly-hatched dragons.

> Even an older beast [dragon] lived for the here and now, with little thought for the future and not all that much recollection - except on an instinctive level - for the past. That was just as well, F'nor thought. For dragons bore the brunt of Thread-score. Perhaps if their memories were more acute or associative, they might refuse to fight.

_They might refuse to fight._ The beings with which dragon riders share such a complete connection with, thank Prime they forget the past so easily, and that they don't dwell too much in philosophy or ethics, or they might understand that they are being used as living weapons and expected to fight and die so that other humans, often unappreciative and resentful of them, might live and prosper. Thank Prime they don't peek into their riders' memories, or that the dragons don't have a gestalt consciousness, or any one of a hundred things that they could do which would lay bare to them the reality of what they are doing and the likelihood that they will die fighting this war. Thank Prime the tools don't think past instinct, or this would be The Dragons of Pern. Because it's totally possible to keep thinking, feeling beings in a second-class state forever without problems, so long as you take care of their basic needs in the process.

_[This becomes kind of important later. Ruth ends up having a highly-developed space-time sense, and Talenth, in the Todd books, has a remarkably good sense of people and their names, although it is only with the benefit of hindsight that we can see these things. Neither of these books have been written yet, so…]_

Back to the plot. F'nor heads into the Lower Caverns, where the process of making an ointment that numbs the burn of Thread is well underway, and it stinks. Non-metaphorically, that is. Lessa, Manora (F'nor's mother and chief steward of the Weyr) and Brekke, from the Southern Weyr (Kylara's Weyr, also serving as convalescence and hospital to dragonriders), are all worried about cracked pots that are leaking a contaminant into their salve, and they need someone to go ask Fandarel about the pots' construction to see if the addition will be harmless or problematic when applied to an open wound. F'nor kind of likes Brekke, but mostly because she's a quiet, timid girl with "self-effacing modesty". So she doesn't take credit, won't speak up, and will likely be obedient to her man. Gee, I wonder why he likes her for that. 

Anyway, F'nor agrees to see Fandarel to get away from the odor, is the mouthpiece for the narrative telling us that F'lar and Lessa are well-matched, that Lessa has had a child with F'lar, Felessan (naming conventions say children are named after their parents), muses more about how Benden is becoming a hotspot of feminism, because it doesn't expect all its women to be constantly cranking out babies, has some chow, and hops over to see the Mastersmith, whose latest idea of putting wheels on the river barges has made transporting or from the mines significantly more efficient (no unloading needed, just haul the barges out and run them on land).

Before he can get there, however, he runs into two riders from Fort who are on an extortion run, fancying a jeweled belt knife intended for a wedding at a Hold for themselves instead of its intended recipient. Their rudeness rubs F'nor the wrong way, and for his troubles, and in attempting to prevent the shakedown, he gets stabbed in the shoulder, all the way to the bone. To end the chapter, F'nor passes out.

Before we move on, though, I'm going to mention that one of the two dragonriders from Fort is a green rider. And a guy. And helps cement the idea that the only dragons women will ride are queen dragons. Which means much of what was commented on in Dragonflight about choices determining character has a whole extra set of potential Unfortunate Implications tacked on. In their favor, there's been nothing explicitly said about male-male relationships, positive or negative, to this point, so it's quite possible green riders can relieve their stresses in whatever way works. Apparently, this rider is quite irritable because his dragon wants to mate with another, he's suppressing that urge, and this drives his angry actions and his short temper. There's a tangle in here about how promiscuity in men seems to be okay on Pern, too, so one would think there's enough ability for a green rider to stay happy... unless they're only supposed to mate with other riders, at which point things get interesting. Maybe if the narrative provides us some perspective, we'll be able to untangle things.

_[It won't.]_


	2. Clash of the Titanic Egos

(by [Silver Adept](http://silveradept.dreamwidth.org))

At our last stopping point, F'nor had been stabbed by another dragonrider while running an errand for Lessa, which may be a microcosm of bigger issues brewing...

**Dragonquest, Chapter II: Content Notes: Misogyny, Patriarchy**

Chapter II starts with an incandescent rage, courtesy F'lar, who is ready to do great violence in reprisal for his brother. Mnementh, sensing this, adjusts F'lar's arrival point to give him a long runway to coast in on, hoping some of that anger will burn off on the way down and he won't be goaded into a rash action, like he was when he killed Fax. F'lar concludes that he's just as aggravated by the flagrant disregard for Weyr tradition (Traditiooon!) as he is by the act of violence, and enumerates the list of sins as he arrives.

  1. First, it's obvious the timing of the meeting is meant to insult him, since it's taking place in the middle of his night,
  2. > It was an absolute that a dragonrider did not take a green dragon or a queen from her Weyr when she was due to rise for mating....A mating female dragon broadcast her emotions on a wide band....Humans were susceptible, too, and innocent Hold youngsters often responded with embarrassing consequences. That particular aspect of dragon matings didn't bother weyrfolk who had long since discarded sexual inhibitions.

  3. > Any disagreements between riders were settled in unarmed bouts, carefully refereed inside the Weyr....A berserk dragon was almost impossible to manage and a dragon's death severely upset his entire Weyr. So armed dueling, which might injure or kill a dragon, was the most absolute proscription.




Well, that answered a question from before - apparently, because of the dragons, there's very little taboo on how or who one partners with, and very likely, little expectation of monogamy, right? And since Lessa is Hold-born, that's why she had these weird ideas about who would be able to fly her queen. Everyone else just takes it in stride. 

_[Oh, how I wish that were true, but it'll still take me a bit to catch on to the fact that while there's a lot of talking about the supposedly libertine nature of Weyrs, there's precious little proof of that actually happening anywhere, and the issue only gets compounded worse in the Todd books.]_

F'lar's thought process as he descends is to feel aggravated that his pragmatic suggestions have been systematically rejected by the time-skipped Weyrs, even with his clear evidence that things have gone well with his changes. He does take a smug satisfaction in being able to call out T'ton the Traditional (Traditioooooon!) on these giant breaches of conduct. With no trace of self-knowledge or self-reflection about what position he was in with regard to the Lords Holder one book ago, or making the connection between the time-skipped Weyrs now and how he was beset by R'gul from the last book. If his game plan is the same as how to deal with R'gul, F'lar is going to lose badly, because he lacks the leverage of actual Thread to convince everyone to go along with him. He's going to have to play diplomacy (his weak suit) or find a way to gather strength and force the issue. F'lar wishes Lessa was with him, because of her Sith Mind Trick abilities, her general higher abilities in diplomacy overall, and being able to get answers from dragons. But Lessa can't be here because there is apparently a three-way feud developing with the Weyrwomen.

> Mardra's friendship had gradually turned into an active hatred. Mardra was a handsome woman with a full, strong, figure, and while she was nowhere near as promiscuous with her favors as Kylara of Southern Weyr...By nature she was immensely possessive and not, F'lar realized, very intelligent....She seemed to feel that Lessa, the only survivor of that Bloodline, had no right to renounce her claim on Ruatha Hold to young Lord Jaxom. Not that any Weyrwoman could take Hold, or would want to....Lessa had no control over her beauty and had had no choice about taking Hold at Ruatha.

_[Coco-what-now?]_

Oh, fuck you, F'lar, you shit-eating asshole. I know the narrative is going to prove you right about Mardra being intensely jealous of Lessa being pretty and taking the focus off of her and not being very bright at all, but **_WHO_** was responsible for not giving Lessa a choice about whether she would be in charge at Ruatha or the Weyrwoman at Benden? Who decided that the laughable unserious claim of a tyrant would take precedence over someone of the correct lineage to run the place, all because the kid was boy? Who then kept her there with the queen, trying so very hard to get her to submit through abuse until she finally did? That's right, _you_. So fuck you, your ego, and your unwillingness to admit that this situation was entirely your doing.

F'lar runs down an insult for any Weyrwoman not named Lessa, declares this a matter for men, and has a moment of empathy when he remembers that the time-skipped Weyrs have basically been fighting Thread nonstop for their lives. It's a short-lived moment, soon squashed completely in favor of his outrage. And the meeting begins with a lot of posturing, sniping, veiled insults, and attempts by T'ton (now called T'ron _[as opposed to the last book, where his name really was T'ton]_ ) to chair the meeting according to his privilege of being the Weyrleader where it is being held, the age of the Weyr, and just about any other attempt he can muster. A flimsy pretext is offered about why the green is out (sudden heat! Totally inexplicable!), and F'lar users his best witness, the smith who was present, but T'ron dismisses him, saying that F'lar disgraces himself by taking the word of a "commoner" over that of a dragonrider. When F'lar presses his case that the knife being extorted was already promised, T'ron only becomes more condescending about who F'lar believes, and eventually, the other time-skipped Weyrleaders agree that the smith was at fault for not immediately giving up the knife to the rider that wanted it, which would have solved the issue by not having F'nor present to get stabbed for interference by someone whose dragon had inexplicably suddenly gone into heat. Meeting over, complaint heard, everyone says they'll talk to their riders about making sure possible dragons in heat don't leave. Outside the meeting, F'lar's ally, T'bor, wonders why he didn't put up more of a fight. F'lar exercises wisdom, for once.

> "That such an incident **could** happen worries me far more than who was in the wrong and for what reason. [...] Dragonriders don't fight. Weyrleaders can't. T'ron was hoping I'd be mad enough to lose control.

F'lar has apparently learned from when he was goaded into fighting Fax. Being on the receiving end of Lessa has apparently taken some of the edge off of F'lar's hair-trigger temper... around other people, anyway. The chapter ends with F'lar going back to Benden.

So, again, we've had seven planetary revolutions for everyone to figure out how to get along with each other, to reach a new equilibrium of how Holds and Weyrs do their symbiotic dance, and we appear to have gone exactly nowhere, to the point where flimsy excuses are being used in naked power plays to avoid having to admit that things may have changed some in the interim. Seven Turns of this hasn't apparently budged opinions about a dragonrider's place in the world. 

So, since the action is light for this chapter, let's take stock right now of how the dragonriders see the world. Pern is organized somewhat loosely in a society reminiscent of the medieval period of Latin Christendom. The dragonriders see themselves primarily as an aristocratic military organization, and they occupy the mounted class niche in the society. (Yes, there are beast-mounted fighters, but they have basically nil military value in relation to a dragon.) T'ron considers himself the four (or five)-star officer, with all other Weyrleaders as three-star officers. (F'lar may dispute who, if anyone, has the fourth star, but he generally agrees with the structure.) Bronze riders make up the rest of the flag officers, with Wingleaders rounding out the star officers and the two colonel grades, and regular bronze riders as captains and majors. Brown riders compose the rest of the commissioned officer corps and some of the non-commissioned officers, with Wingseconds at captain rank and other brown riders as the two grades of lieutenant and likely many of the master sergeants. Blue and green riders compose the enlisted men and the bulk of the non-commissioned officers and airmen. The is nearly zero mobility of rank, it appears, outside of the normally set boundaries, because the choice of rider by a dragon is basically permanent. Therefore, social stratification is almost inevitable, leading to the current situation where change is nearly impossible to effect. Women hold almost no power in this structure, and can hope to be promoted to Weyrwoman by being selected by a gold dragon, but otherwise will be unable to rise in station in any martial capacity. 

Outside the riders, civilians (derisively "commoners", according to T'ron) have a parallel aristocratic structure that resembles Latin Christendom more closely, with Lords Holder at the top. Women are not permitted to hold actual temporal power, it appears. Presumably there have lesser lords and security forces and such, and the craft guilds generally locate in and work with the Holds, with some that also work with Weyrs. It's not completely clear at this point who has more power, the aristocrats with the monopoly on non-dragon violence, or the craft halls that are largely responsible for the economic output of a Hold. Women may be allowed to join certain guilds, but it is unlikely that will be able to ascend to leadership roles.

_[This gets thrown out the window in the Todd books, with an explicit mention of a woman holding the title and power of the Lord Holder because all the men who could lay claim to it are dead from a virulent plague, but until then, the closest we get to anyone giving a real challenge to this way of thinking is Thella, who we won't meet for more than a few books, and because she swiftly descends into Snidely Whiplash territory, and various members of Crafthalls, like Menolly, Kelsa, Janis, and so forth, who rise to high ranks in the guild, but are never actually considered for leadership of the whole thing itself. The question of whether a woman could actually hold the title and power outside of extraordinary circumstances is generally answered with "lolno."]_

These parallel tracks exist mostly because dragonriders are generally of the opinion that Holds and their outputs are useful, and that there are not enough dragonriders to be able to sustain living and keeping armed their weapons. So long as the Holds pay proper tribute, they will continue to exist. It's not quite the Hunger Games, but there are probably quite a few parallels that could be drawn.


	3. Playing Patriarchy for Fun and Profit

Last chapter, the Weyrleaders held a conference about the stabbing of F'nor. Like all good political organizations, nothing got done, leaving F'lar with the short end of the stick. As the novelty of the situation sinks in, the call to action arrives. 

**Dragonquest: Chapter III: Content Notes: Winning At Patriarchy, Infertility, Domestic Abuse**

F'lar and company are alerted to a Threadfall that is happening in the wrong section of the Hold and earlier than the charts F'lar uses to track Thread would indicate. He is able to successfully scramble fighters because the messenger dragon he sent ahead to warn the Hold of their imminent Fall was able to observe and report. Because dragons can hop through both the space and time axes, being initially late can be corrected, but existing in two places at the same time is tiring and has nasty side effects. After taking care of the threat, F'lar learns from Lord Asgenar that this is not the first out-of-sync Threadfall that has happened, but the _third_. Worried about his lack of information (but also wishing for a worldwide communications network), F'lar chats with the Lord Holder about the supply of wood for Hold fires (distributed for free, except in Lord Meron's domain, because he wants everyone to have to pay for Crom's coal), new Crafthalls, hopefully in Asengar's Hold and Benden's Weyr, the possible production of woodpulp paper, and the general mood regarding change.

This gives us some interesting data - in addition to Meron's greed, we've now been told that coal can be used as a heat source, which may suggest that the fire temperatures available to smiths is hotter than would normally be expected of a medieval pastiche limited to wood-fired forges, but also that either wood is plentiful enough everywhere (not likely, because Thread, at least right now) or that there's a really good reason to spread the wood around to the inhabitants (cost savings, we're told, because coal fires are expensive to purchase, and goodwill from commoners to their Lord).

After being assured the area is clear, F'lar heads home, to find Lessa barreling down the steps to him at high velocity, reminiscent of how their child (O hai, we can haz kids nao, apparently) does, so as to treat his injuries, which offends F'lar's sense of macho tough-it-out, but he's overridden by Mnementh's desire to _not piss off his mate_. Lessa frets about injuries and protective gear (note to self, increase technology level available to Pern if protective eye lenses made of glass are being thought of), and then we find out what's _really_ on her mind.

> "Which is just as well because if he doesn't stop raiding Holds for new lovers, we won't be able to foster all the babies. Those holdbred girls are convinced it's evil to abort." She stopped short, set her lips in the thin line F'lar had finally catalogued as Lessa veering away from a tough subject.
> 
> "Lessa! No, don't look away." He forced her head up so she had to meet his eyes. She who couldn't conceive must find it hard, too, to help terminate unwanted pregnancies. Would she never stop yearning for another child? How could she forget she had nearly died with Felessan? [their child] He'd been relieved that she had never quickened again.

This almost deserves the cocowhat, just on the principle that Sith Lady Lessa has apparently become something utterly alien to her previous self, a lot more submissive and apparently interested in children and doting on her mate, like someone in a rom-com who has built up their career and then is mysteriously seized with an overriding desire to settle and have kids, based on some random event. F'lar, as we see, hasn't necessarily mellowed out in his control phase, forcing Lessa to look at him while she's trying to process her feelings. We do note that he's managed to clear the extremely low bar of not shaking her violently to get her to agree with him, so a very tiny "about fucking time" for that.

Also, the Thread falling...the one that will uncaringly consume organic material...you think that might affect attitudes toward children a touch, if it's possible your lover could be killed by a wandering parasite on any given day? I don't have data, but I wonder what attitudes toward children and having children are like in warzones versus peacetime versus military culture.

F'lar is secretly glad Lessa has not gotten pregnant. Because kids totally harsh his...no, wait, kids are raised communally. Because it messes with his macho image...no, it seems more like dragonrider culture values having lots of lovers and lots of kids from those lovers. Because Lessa nearly died? Yes, but there's something that seems subtly wrong with that idea, and I think it's because the culture laid out in the Weyrs shouldn't lend itself to either monogamy or caring about childbirth. But then F'nor's offhand remark in Chapter One about women flocking to them because they won't be permanently pregnant stops making sense, and...grah. This scene reads off, not just because Lessa seems downright Stepford Wife, but because the culture-as-established would suggest none of these issues that are suddenly important to Lessa would actually _be_ important. Seven years in the Weyr, if it can change Lessa this much, should probably also have changed her ideas and operating philosophies away from Hold culture to Weyr culture. It's a mess, and I can't untangle it satisfactorily at this point in the chapter.

_[Wait until you meet Fiona, and get to see things through her eyes. Then things really go off the rails.]_

This scene, the narrative assures us, is touching and romantic nonetheless, and shows us that F'lar cares tremendously about Lessa. Not enough to actually give her space or to respect her opinions on subjects, but he cares, and that's good enough for the narrative. Which is why we're not supposed to notice him going straight back to old habits, shaking Lessa once when he sees Lessa calculating on how to get the time-skipped Weyrs on board with modernity. Any small cookies you received from earlier are revoked, F'lar. And, oh, look, T'ron is arriving as a convenient distraction!

T'ron is ready to berate F'lar for missing important things with regard to the timetables the dragonriders have been using to anticipate where and when Thread will fall (by virtue of being able to study a record 450 Turns before F'lar would have initially encountered it, which wouldn't be cheating at all, now would it?) and to do some macho dick-swinging when Lessa calls in both riders for a hot drink. And then proceeds to shamelessly flatter and manipulate T'ron into revealing his data without the penis-fencing. Maybe Sith Lady Lessa isn't gone, after all, and she's running a long con on F'lar with her newly-demure self. Or Lessa fully appreciates what kind of power she can wield by playing the part of a weak woman. Either way, this is encouraging for me, even if I'm not sure what the narrative thinks of this.

F'lar is able to push through his idea of worldwide communications, using signal fires the Holds used to communicate intruders as flares to indicate Thread, with young riders providing overwatch to spot the signals when they light up. And, because F'lar always gets what he wants, a messenger interrupts the meeting with news of another unexpected Threadfall, with the Weyrleader in that area injured in fighting the Thread and then knocked out through the application of too much numbweed salve before he could send more word. Lessa gets F'lar out of running to help with even more flirting, and then returns to demonstrate that Sith Lady Lessa isn't gone at all.

> "By the Egg, Weyrleader,...

Wait, we have oaths now? What is it with all this new content without context? We could use at least a little bit of a handwave here, instead of being expected to just not notice.

> "...you astonish me. Why can't there be deviations? Because you, F'lar, compiled these Records and to spite the Oldtimers they must remain infallible? Great golden eggs, man, there were such things as Intervals when no Threads fell - as we both know. Why not a change of pace in Threadfall itself during a Pass?"
> 
> "But why? Give me one good reason why."
> 
> "Give me one good reason why not! The same thing that affects the Red Star so that it doesn't always pass close enough to cast Thread on us can pull it enough off course to change Fall! The Red Star is not the only one to rise and set with the seasons. There could be another heavenly body affecting not only us but the Red Star."
> 
> "Where?"
> 
> Lessa shrugged impatiently. "How do I know? I'm not long in the eye like F'rad. But we can try to find out. Or have seven full Turns of certainty and schedule dulled your wits?"
> 
> "Now, see here, Lessa..."
> 
> Suddenly, she pressed herself close to him, full of contrition for her sharp tongue.

And thus, F'lar falls prey to the same manipulation Lessa used on the other Weyrleaders - make a strong an excellent point, then [distract them from it so they can't raise objections](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DistractedByTheSexy), allowing it to work into their brains until they accept it or come up with something better. Maybe even with a little mental push that's better covered because the boys are too busy ogling. Lessa has learned to play the game of Patriarchy, and is now busily figuring out how to twist all the boys around her finger, since she's learned the direct route doesn't work.

Also, Lessa demonstrates her signature ability here: F'lar may understand orbits and models, but Lessa understands astrophysics, because _she's smarter than everyone else_. (Advanced scientific knowledge! Still dangerous to give birth. What the fuck kind of place is this world?) It's nice having a brilliant protagonist, but it's really a pain to have to wade through all of this other crap to get to that conclusion, and the narrative still wants us to sideline Lessa in favor of the men. Hopefully, this changes soon.

The chapter ends with F'lar intending for a much better communications and transport system for Pern (a dragon and rider at every Hold), and Lessa heading to bed, knowing F'lar, Masterharper Robinton, and Mastersmith Fandarel will talk long into the morning while the two Mastercraftsmen drink F'lar under the table.


	4. All Aboard The Abuse Train

(by [Silver Adept](http://silveradept.dreamwidth.org))

When we last left our protagonists, the fundamental constants of the Pernese universe had just been reconfirmed:

  1. Lessa is smarter than everyone.
  2. The narrative ensures F'lar gets what he wants.
  3. Lessa is clearly a Sith.



**Dragonquest, Chapter IV: Content Notes: Misogyny, Domestic Abuse, Abuse Apologia**

Chapter IV opens with the first chance to see the world from Kylara's perspective. Kylara, the queen rider that Lessa is intensely jealous of, F'nor cannot stand after prolonged exposure to her intense vanity, and that F'lar would secretly enjoy having sex with, if he could somehow make it work with Lessa. Kylara is supposed to be vain and indiscriminate with her sexual favors - the latter half I would assume comes from Weyr culture, but we're supposed to view her as slutty because she has a queen, I guess? Mardra is also described as being indiscriminate as a bad thing, so there's probably a double standard here that hasn't been explained. Anyway, the narrative wastes no time at all telling us that everyone's assessment is spot-on, through Kylara staring at herself in a mirror in a red dress (hellooooo cultural sexuality marker!) and getting quite cross about bad hand stitching with Rannely, her Weyr matron, whom Kylara dismisses as being old and stupid based on the banalities that she talks about, like the appreciation of nature and the lack of care in clothing work. Just in case we were unsure about Kylara having redeeming qualities, we are then treated to a disdainful "I go where I please" in response to Rannely's quite valid concern about the Weyrwoman disappearing without telling anyone where she's gone. And a point-counterpoint of Kylara complaining about the ignominy of it all, being sent to the Southern Continent to start a new Weyr, when someone of her bloodline should be somewhere else, and Rannely doing her very best to yes-man all of those complaints, collect the offending dress, and get out. The way the scene reads, we might be expected to infer that Kylara also has a temper and will throw fits if she doesn't get what she wants.

So now that we're clear that Kylara is a horrible person and F'lar and Lessa were totally right to get rid of her...right up until we see that Kylara's body is covered in bruises, and not the kind that one receives by accident. Rannely makes concerned noises, and wants to know if _he_ did that to her. _He_ is a person in a Hold, apparently. The conversation suggests that T'bor, one of the riders sent from Benden to found Southern, and its current Weyrleader, might also be abusing her when he gets stinking drunk. Rannely offers the practical idea of staying away from _him_ , but Kylara dismisses that idea with the same reasoning about how being Weyrwoman gives her unchecked freedom, and she doesn't need advice from Rannely, anyway, which produces a fairly acid retort, confirming my suspicions that bronze and gold dragonriders not named Lessa seem to have issues with practical solutions to problems.

Also, however, that means that two of the three named gold dragonrider players in these stories so far are victims of domestic abuse (Mardra is still an unknown at this point). And that both of them have apparently responded to this abuse by entrenching themselves more firmly into the patriarchal systems that abuse them, give cover to their abusers, and encourage them to see each other as rivals and competitors, instead of as allies to fight the system. Since their queens are the only fertile dragons due to greens becoming sterile by eating firestone, they potentially have tremendous leverage - a queen that allowed no bronze to fly her would be seen as scandalous, but if _all_ the queens refused to let the bronzes fly any of them, the negotiating table would eventually open up for them. That said, being strong against an abusive culture is peril-fraught. The problem usually gets worse for a long time before it gets better, so significant mental and physical fortitude would be needed to outlast the men working against them. It's really difficult to achieve. So, ultimately, it's Kylara, Lessa, and Madra's choice about whether to fight or give in. The narrative, however, will constantly remind us that we're supposed to think of the system as natural, and any excesses that system produces are the results of bad actors. Like our own culture does. The narrative is wrong.

Kylara continues looking at herself, whereupon we discover she has apparently had five children in her seventeen Turns at Southern and is proud of her still-flat belly. Or that she's gotten pregnant five times and used the cold of hyperspace to abort them all - it's not completely clear. We also get a hint as to who _he_ may be - Lord Meron, who enjoys increasing his personal wealth by forcing his subjects to buy expensive coal for heating. Kylara believes she is looking for someone who appreciates her right, like F'lar. Prideth, her queen dragon, cuts off that line of inquiry with more pragmatism - she's not going to contend with Ramoth over Mnementh. We learn that Kylara's mother suffered from being used, abused, and discarded from the bed of a Lord Holder at Telgar, and that she was likely destined for the same if she hadn't been diverted to the Weyr for the opportunity to stand for Prideth. (Also, Pride-th? Unsubtle hinting there about another of what Kylara's flaws is.) So the cycle of abuse started before Kylara.

_[There is/was a robust discussion in the fandom, I suspect, about Kylara's interest in bruises and battery, and that she might be correctly characterized as someone who might consensually enjoy pain and be masochistic in her sexual practice. I can see where the argument comes from, and if the narrative had taken advantage of the opportunity of being in Kylara's head to tell us these things, there would be a much stronger case that Kylara is seeking something specifically and she's only getting something close to what she wants, because Pern is a terrible place that doesn't actually believe in a woman's consent in anything. The best anyone can do is extrapolate from the facts that Kylara's pretty bratty and flirty with everyone, and that she doesn't appear ashamed or otherwise chagrined or negative about being covered in bruises from what Meron does. Even if Kylara is a brat, trying to chase something she consensually wants, I can't say that she has any sort of S &M relationship with any of her partners, because there's no evidence they started on a level playing field or engaged in any sort of negotiations, and there are enough other factors in how Kylara relates to the world, not least of which is the narrative's insistence at all turns that Kylara is a bad girl who sleeps beneath her station with terrible people, that I can say with any confidence that her pain and bruising is anything other than someone abusing her. I'll bet there's a lot of great fanfic potential for consensually kinky nd masochistic Kylara, though.]_

This is also a potential hint as to why Hold women might be throwing themselves at any dragonrider they can find - the possibility that they might get knocked up, abort, and then _be left alone_ to help run the Weyr could be seen as a better life than being married off to an abuser that will expect her to be perpetually pregnant, raise the kids, and run the household. The calculus of abuse is never easy, but a lot of women will probably take the chance of "a little abuse and then a normal life" over "constant abuse and an early death". Of course, it would be worlds better if, say, the men didn't abuse, but that is most likely a lost cause.

Lest we garner empathy or sympathy for her, however, Kylara is sure to let us know that she wants to rule the world with Meron, and is categorically rude to T'bor, despite Prideth saying that he is devoted to her and wants to treat her well. She snaps at him, tells him to go find Brekke, one of the junior queenriders, to answer his questions, expresses her annoyance at Southern being the convalescence facility for Thread-injured riders, and digs at him that he's only a second fiddle lover for Brekke, who apparently desperately wants F'nor in the same way T'bor desperately wants Kylara (well, a nicer, more civilized version of her, anyway). Kylara's pleased at how well she can manipulate him...

...and that's an uncomfortable parallel to what Lessa just did last chapter. I think we're supposed to see Kylara as the person that wants to be Lessa, but is much more overt, brash, and clumsy in her manipulation attempts. As such, she also suffers the more obvious signs of her physical abuse. F'lar shakes, Meron strikes. We're supposed to pity Kylara for reaching for what she can't get and pretending to sophistication above her reality, but we're not supposed to notice that Lessa did not escape unscathed from her own attempts to be direct, either.

We're fucked, aren't we? We're not going to see a woman in this series who isn't going to suffer horrible abuse at the hands of a (supposedly) loved one, are we?

_[Well, they get a little less direct as time goes on, and eventually, there are even some that might be in happy and loving relationships without trauma, but most of the characters we're going to interact with have something terrible in their backstories or relationship stories. ]_

So, Kylara dismisses Brekke as unsuitable for anyone based on being flat-chested and non-curvy, and believes that Lessa is far too much of a Stepford Wife now to notice that Kylara is planning to take over the world with Meron right out from under her. Regarding that opinion, see Constants of The Pernese Universe, #1 and #3. There's no way Lessa doesn't know, but being a Lady of the Sith, she'll wait to see whether Kylara can actually pull off the plan before sending F'lar in to crush it. No sense revealing her hand too much.

We pick up with Brekke, who is a clearly gifted nurse and healer, tending F'nor's knife wound as T'bor arrives, asking how many spots they have for the wounded. F'nor is concerned about Brekke spreading herself too thin by being both the de facto Weyrwoman, chief nurse, and adoptive foster to Mirrim. F'nor teases Brekke about how "men sent to Southern heal faster", with a potentially lascivious undertone, which T'bor picks up on and responds to testily, having been wound up by Kylara before. F'nor suggests that perhaps Southern should stop being the hospital Weyr, which prompts Brekke, unbidden, to complain about Mardra's leadership qualities in flying a wing, which is news to both of the other riders - apparently, ever since a wingleader was downed by Thread, Mardra's been flying the upper realms with a flamethrower, which changes the dragon formation to protect her queen, resulting in quite a few serious injuries. Another case of female ambition being shown to have bad consequence. Kind of a running theme here, too, to the story's detriment.

T'bor and F'nor discuss Kylara's plan to make trouble at a wedding, her alliance with Meron, and the Threadfall pattern shift, to which F'nor is understandably distressed. After T'bor storms out, complaining that the precious timetables don't include Southern, F'nor correctly-and-incorrectly reads Brekke's interest in T'bor, gets upbraided by Brekke for even thinking about charging back into battle, and discovers that Brekke can do what Lessa does - hear other dragons, when Brekke asks him why he hasn't responded to Canth, his brown. He also learns that Canth refers to Brekke by name, which indicates familiarity not normally accorded by dragons to humans, and rather than be scolded about withholding the variant Thread information from F'nor, Canth insists on a bath.

Which turns out to have far-ranging implications. So we'll leave off here and pick up next time.


	5. Confronting One's Ancestors

When we stepped away last time, Kylara intended to take over the world, Brekke would be happy if Kylara would take on her proper duties, and F'nor and Canth went for a bath, and then a nap. Something, however, has come to say hello that most of the residents wouldn't believe, even if they saw it.

**Dragonquest: Chapter IV: Content Notes: Domestic Abuse, Victim-blaming, Abuse Apologia**

> **F'nor** , Canth's gentle summons penetrated the brown rider's delicious somnolence, **do not move**.
> 
> That was sufficient to dispel drowsy complacence, but the dragon's tone was amused, not alarmed.
> 
> **Open one eye slowly** , Canth advised.
> 
> Resentful but obedient, F'nor opened one eye. It was all he could do to remain limp. Retutning his gaze was a golden dragon, small enough to perch on his bare forearm.

Once the tiny dragon notices he's awake, it moves to fly off, but both rider and dragon try to calm it down. Canth instinctively knows they're of the same blood, and uses that as his pitch for the tiny dragon to stay. The little dragon expresses skepticism at the idea, but eventually, curiosity takes over. (I should mention at this point that the little dragon is communicating entirely in feelings, without words. So, when I say curiosity takes over, that's the communicated feeling from the tiny gold. Onward.) Eventually, the dragon communicates wonder at how a little dragon could become a human, and F'nor gently corrects the idea, which causes skepticism about the relative sizes of the two dragons. F'nor, pragmatically, and with Canth's help, puts things in perspective for the tiny dragon (quite literally - he walks a ways away from Canth so that the two sizes are similar when viewed), who promptly disappears.

> Canth, do you realize that was a **fire-lizard**?...Those legends are true! You were bred from something as small as her!...Just imagine being able to breed tiny fire-lizards into a creature the size of you!"

Genetics! Also part of the ancient knowledge here on Pern.

F'nor, ever-practical, wonders if fire-lizards could be trained to do things that dragons can, on a much smaller scale, of course. Like running messages. Canth is a bit miffed at F'nor, but when the fire-lizard returns, Canth informs F'nor that she's hungry. F'nor feeds her and tempts her closer every time until she eats out of his hand, and then he scratches her eye ridges the way dragonriders do to their dragons.

> **She is a hatchling. You have Impressed her** , Canth told him, very softly.

Congratulations, F'nor, it's a girl! And also a potentially panic situation, as the newly-hatched clutch on the beach is in danger of predation from wherries and each other. As the fledglings fight each other. F'nor asks Canth to send for help, and a green dragon and some riders arrive to scare off the wherries and feed the fire-lizards. Including Brekke. Seven of the original fifty in the pile Impressed, three to Mirrim, one each to Brekke and the riders that came with her. Plus one for F'nor, so eight of fifty-one. By the time everyone gets home, Southern is abuzz with activity and the news.

Now that he has some time to think, F'nor realizes something he probably could have picked up on earlier.

> "You don't suppose he's [Canth] jealous, do you?" F'nor asked Brekke, when he found her in her Infirmary splinting the little blue's wrenched wing. "Wirenth [Brekke's queen] was interested until the lizards fell asleep...And you know how touchy Wirenth is right now. Mercy, F'nor, what is there for a dragon to be jealous of? These are toys, dolls as far as the big ones are concerned. At best, children to be protected and taught like any fosterling."

Which produces Meaningful Glances at Mirrim, with her three fire-lizards contented around her.

> "Mirrim is very young for this," he [F'nor] said, shaking his head.
> 
> "On the contrary, she's as old as most Weyrlings at their first Impression. And she's more mature in some ways than half a dozen grown women I know with several babes of their own."
> 
> "Oh-ho. The female of the species in staunch defense..." 
> 
> "It's no teasing matter, F'nor," Brekke replied with a sharpness that put F'nor in mind of Lessa. "Mirrim will do very well. She takes every responsibility to heart."

Brekke defends Mirrim, pointing out that she has three to everyone else's one as a sign of character before Kylara bursts in, fueled by anger at not knowing and jealousy at not having, advancing on Brekke such that F'nor attempts to disperse Kylara's anger before there is violence. Kylara does her very best Veruca Salt impression, reaching out to take away an already-Impressed bronze lizard from one of the green riders at the beach, and is about to get bit for her trouble, when the knowledge that F'nor having Impressed a queen brings her focus on to him. F'nor describes how they managed to get them, when none had before, with an extra mental insult for Kylara's avarice. Stymied, Kylara storms off.

So, in the middle of this, there's a segment I skipped over in the plot summary, but that I want to get back to.

> It was too bad you couldn't beat a Weyrwoman with impunity. Her dragon would never permit it, but a sound thrashing was what Kylara badly needed.

_[Have a cocowhat.]_

F'nor doesn't know what Kylara is suffering from, or what fetishes she may have, _but the narrative does_ , and placing that thought in F'nor's head, the practical, level-headed one, is either a deliberate signal about how deep this fucking shithole of abusive culture goes or a really, really poor decision. From the demeanor expressed, I'm pretty sure there was no kink to that thought at all. Are all dragonmen expected to beat their women? Or is abuse just tolerated in Weyr culture? We're supposed to think of this, I think, like a parent spanking or taking the strap to a spoiled child, so it's okay to beat Kylara to teach her a lesson, but NO! NOPE NOPE NOPE FUCK YOU, SHITHEAD! 

[LA MARSEILLAISE] 

Abuse is not okay, ever. And _**fuck**_ the idea that someone deserves abuse in any way, shape, or form.

Ahem. Brekke and F'nor discuss whether or not fire-lizard Impression might not be a bad thing - the "commoners" outside of the weyrs have built up a mythos and imagination about Impression and being chosen on Search. If they could have their own mini-dragons, they might be able to understand all the issues that come with being attached to the big ones, and they'd stop being so jealous of the riders. It would foster understanding. F'nor, having had his privilege checked, returns to our pragmatic and affable guy _and apologizes_ , something his brother would never do. Which is kind of frustrating, given how he was entirely okay with beating someone a few pages earlier. It's like he can't quite translate one experience to another yet. He does at least seem to be trying more than the higher-ups in the Weyrs to not be an ass.

F'nor is still my vote for best male protagonist so far, but his esteem just went way down with this chapter. Brekke is trending upward as best female protagonist, though - I'm hoping she can break free of the patriarchal culture of the Weyr soon, and her and Lessa (and possibly Mardra and Kylara, too) can lead the queens' rebellion for feminism and better treatment in Weyr culture. Not that such things will ever happen on Pern with F'lar in charge.


	6. Children's Hour

Last time, there was a lot of cursing. And dragons discovered their ancestors still lived among them. But mostly cursing and decrying the systemic abuse of women on Pern.

**Dragonquest, Chapter V: Content Notes: None that I can see.**

Chapter V introduces another perspective to the mix - Jaxom, the Lord of Lessa's Ruatha Hold, who should be about ten, if I recall the timeline correctly, and who has yet to be killed by Lessa as a usurper to her rightful claim. The stylistic construction of this chapter is more akin to a boys' adventure story, like Harry Potter's first few installments were, so the adults will be scarce, there will be no lethal danger to the boys, and the men Do and the women Mother.

Jaxom is busy making himself scarce in the corridors of Ruatha Hold, trying to get away from Lytol for a moment and being totally jealous of Felessan. Oh, and also there's all this stuff he needs to learn about being a Lord Holder. Lytol's call for him to get on the dragon intended to take him to Benden Weyr brings Jaxom around. Problem is, he's already starting to sound like a person with no compassion for the "commoners", complaining that they only sent a green, and that a brown would have been better fitting his station. (Again, there's that whole stratification based on dragon color, which is something that a kid can't determine for themselves. There's a lot of predeterminism crap going on here.) Jaxom's transformation isn't complete, though, because he's immediately contrite about his previous annoyance, remembering that the dragon Lytol lost was a brown (as genesistrine pointed out, this is an upgrade from the green Larth from the first book. Since Lytol is going to be an important character, he apparently retroactively gets a higher-status dragon.) and it would be an uncomfortable reminder of the accident that killed Lytol's dragon. Jaxom forgets the honorific of draconic contraction, which is easy to see in text, but must be a bear to hear, and we get to see that Jaxom is perceptive, even when he's not completely trained. This slots him into the "cautious, thinking boy" role in the adventure story, whose complement, Felessan, will be introduced to us shortly. Felessan is the "adventurous, overconfident boy" role, and will be the primary spur to getting Jaxom to go along with him on their intended trip.

This bit follows Jaxom and Felessan [Lessa and F'lar's son] into their shared explorer passions. This would totally be the right time for some subtle worldbuilding, but instead we get the two tearing through the settled areas at high speed, more jealous of each other's position (as children are wont to be) than anything. The narrative does take care to point out, though, that Jaxom is being bullied and Felessan is being ostracized, also possibly bullied, before it goes off on the adventure. I suspect those elements will return with vengeance later on. But for now, Felessan leads Jaxom on a merry trip down unused corridors with the end goal of catching a glimpse of Ramoth's latest clutch while Ramoth is away at the lake. And then goads Jaxom into following him to go try and touch them, which ends up with Jaxom being scraped across the chest trying to squeeze through a crack that Felessan could easily go through, ruining his clothes and giving him a big obvious sign to others that he was up to something. But the reward for the pain is a very close inspection of the eggs. Jaxom touches one of them, because his thinking mode grants him the virtue of curiosity. Felessan has obvious discomfort at this, preferring the safety of tradition (Tradition!), and then both of them flee immediately at the first sign of Ramoth's return.

Which gets them lost, because Felessan's virtue is action, not planning. Jaxom is hurt, which lends a small bit of urgency to finding their way back. And now we get confirmation that Jaxom can be both perceptive and curious simultaneously, and the subtle worldbuilding we were missing a little while ago appears.

> "I wonder what it was like," Jaxom mused.
> 
> "Wonder what what was like?" asked Felessan with some surprise.
> 
> "When the Weyrs and the Holds were full. When these corridors were lighted and used." 
> 
> "They've never _been_ used."
> 
> "Nonsense."  
>  [...]  
>  "I mean, where did all the people go? And _how_ did they carve out whole mountains in the first place?"
> 
> Clearly, the matter had never troubled Felessan.

Despite being the explorer and part of a corps of explorers, Felessan hasn't wondered what made the places he's exploring. It's not his role in this adventure to exercise thought, so he doesn't. So Jaxom takes twenty on his skill checks, realizing after some thought that he's in an older part, which should lead them out of being lost, but instead leads them to a secret door with a pressure plate that opens the door. Which releases a "inert" gas that knocks both kids out...but also provides a light for when the rescue team comes looking. (Said "inert" gas is probably part of a fire suppression system, which would not be good to breathe at all, but again, no serious danger in an adventure story.)

This section is pretty good, stylistically, in relation to being a children's adventure story. So it's not all gloom and doom here, - the writing is doing well. It's the society around that's so awful. Sometimes, you have to keep sight of the good things. The differences between Acting and Thinking are spelled out pretty clearly, which makes it easy to follow and predict.

The next part of the chapter has us spin the clock back - same time sequence, but from Lytol, Lessa, and F'lar's perspective. Lytol complains a bit about Jaxom running off because he's a Lord Holder, but F'lar reminds him of his own childhood explorations and Lessa flatters him about how well Jaxom is growing and presenting himself. Lytol betrays that Mardra has pissed him off again through his poker tell (one that Jaxom has also picked up on), which irritates Lessa at Mardra, but now it's time for a meeting between F'lar, Lessa, Masterharper Robinton, Mastersmith Fandarel, and Lytol. It's about the premature Thread falling, and the...reluctance of other Weyrs to communicate such things to their Holders and Crafters. (Ah, and one other named Weyrwoman, Bedella, who we don't know about regarding abuse, but who continues to be insulted as stupid). And the communication between Weyrs is also lacking, such that Benden needs an infodump to get the state of the planet.

While the backstory gets filled in, let's take a minute to point out differences between Hold, Craft, and Weyr, in terms of orientation and important things. Lytol, as a Holder, is concerned about his lands, his people, and how Thread affects the economics of the same. He needs accurate timetables, and he needs to instill the statecraft of a noble into Jaxom, which means more structured play opportunities with Weyrlings and Crafters. Crafters need materials from Holds to make things and to have markets for their distribution, and they need Holds to stay safe. So both of them are dependent on dragonriders to keep everything clear. Which can be taken advantage of by less-than-scrupulous dragonriders. And, as the Masterharper and Lytol point out, dragonriders have been taking advantage of this, claiming tradition (TRADITIOOOOOOOON!) as the reason for squeezing the Holders and Crafters harder, including taking noble Hold women to serve as drudges for their Weyrwomen. It's basically stirring up resentment in all the holds and crafts, which makes even Benden Weyr, which treats fairly and modernly...in comparison, anyway, suspicious to the Holders.

> "The Oldtimers are not only incurably parochial, but worse - adamantly inflexible. They will not, cannot adapt to our Turn.[...]And they are alienating the Lord Holders and Craftsmen so completely that I am sincerely concerned - no, I'm scared - about the reaction to this new crisis."

F'lar is at his "best" during the meeting, insisting that what he's already done with signal fires should be enough. (Tradition!) Since he's the designated holder of the Idiot Ball with regard to working within tradition (except when he's suddenly innovative), he gets overridden by the others, Fandarel in particular. Fandarel has reinvented telegraphs, but just needs to run the wire (which he can't, because he's too busy making flamethrowers). Robinton has the knowledge of Morse Code (well, drum code, anyway) to go along with it. F'lar will get what he wants - a worldwide telecommunications network. That is, assuming all the cables can be run. The narrative provides, even here. That said, if Thread eats what it contacts, they're going to have to bury the cables, aren't they? That's going to be a very time-consuming project...and the sweepers will have to be extra careful around those lines. Hmm.

_[As we will find out in the Todd books, drum code has no relation at all to Morse Code, other than they are both ways and mans of using sound to communicate. But until we get to that point (and I yell extensively about the lack of sense what the drum code is actually based on), I'm going to be working on the assumption that drum code works sensibly, especially with this telegraph-like object that Fandarel is demonstrating.]_

Back to the meeting. Everyone pushes F'lar back into the leadership role to save the planet. Because he's done it once before, and, frankly, because he's the best figurehead anyone could ask for, Idiot Ball included. Thus, the narrative will give F'lar everything again, but this time it is at least pointing out that it's by someone else's choices and machinations. This is improvement.

So now it's time to go look for Jaxom and Felessan and see what they discovered. After zeroing in on their most likely target (the egg clutch peephole, which F'lar knows about, Manora knows about, Lytol knows about, but Lessa apparently doesn't, which gives the whole affair a distinctly peep-show quality to it, as dragon eggs have apparently substituted for staring in the windows of the Girl Next Door), the adults systematically search, find the two kids and their prize room, which gives the Mastersmith ideas about new techniques to be researched and Lessa and F'lar a new puzzle to work out with the strange combinations of rods and balls, arranged in ladder-like structures painted onto the walls. My guess is that they have a distinctly helical pattern to them and would tell a lot about how the fire-lizards became the dragons. But since there are no geneticists on Pern, the audience must be content with knowing what has been spotted and enjoy the Mastersmith's discovery of a microscope, which will no doubt give he Masterglasssmith plenty of new knowledge to try and replicate. F'lar breaches the idea brought on by having a magnification lens to work with - if you can build a microscope, you can build a telescope. And once you can see where you're going, you can send a dragon there.

This is not odd, since F'lar also thought of the idea of going to the Red Star at the end of Dragonflight, but it is odd that F'lar, who floats between innovative and traditional, is the _only_ person on Pern confirmed to be thinking about this idea through two books so far. Now that he's said it aloud in the presence of others, the universe can assert itself and put Lessa's brain (and Robinton and Fandarel) to work on it so they can figure it all out in time for F'lar to grab the glory. 

The chapter finishes with Jaxom waking up, realizing he's safe, worrying he's going to get in trouble, and then politely gathering information about his and Felessan's discovery. (His age is also, apparently, almost twelve. Must have miscounted. Or there's an unmentioned temporal paradox where two years of existence were compressed into something else.) The boys have discovered rooms from ancient times, which has apparently erased the trouble they were going to get in. And thus, our mini-adventure tale comes to its close, with an adventure had and no serious consequences. Next time, we return to our fantasy novel. And likely, the cursing.

_[Having the benefit of hindisght here, this "ancient room" is going to get a reprise when we get to the Todd books, where it will be significantly more functionally useful, and have a few tricks that we aren't seeing here, because the power supplies that would drive those tricks have apparently exhausted themselves enough, and the later-written-but-earlier-in-time are able to slot themselves in nicely and expand on why a room in a Weyr would be devoted to genetics and models thereof. Which, incidentally, raises a certain amount of new questions about how this room got rediscovered and had so many things preserved so pristinely in the six Passes that have happened since it was used last. Enough power to keep things preserved, and possibly open a door, but not enough for the full package is not suspect, but not everything that happens in the Todd books works so well with the established canon.]_


	7. She's Not So Different

Last time, we took a break from our grimdark fantasy novel to experience a short boys' adventure story, including discovery of some ancient technology. It was a nice comedic scene to break up the tragic. Regrettably, even Shakespeare could only get one funny scene in, and usually right before things really fall apart.

**Dragonquest, Chapter VI: Content Notes: Animal Abuse, Domestic Abuse**

Chapter VI returns to Kylara, who has just found herself a clutch of fire-lizard eggs, and she intends to Impress them all. With maybe one for Lord Meron, and one each for his men, so she can exploit the mating influences of dragons to keep him under her control. Anyway, having collected her clutch, Kylara heads straight for Meron's Hold to rouse him and have the eggs finish cooking. Meron, like all the villainous men so far, has been sleeping around when Kylara comes to him.

I'd mention something about not making villains so cartoonish, but, Fax. And the Lords Holder. So, yeah.

> Kylara, born to a high degree in one Hold, knew exactly the tone to take with lesser beings, and was, in fact, so much the female counterpart to her own irascible Lord that the woman scurried to her bidding without waiting for Meron's consent.

Meron, also like the villainous men so far, is not particularly bright and has to have the significance of fire-lizards explained to him. After he gets it, he's on board. Until he gets bored, which allows Kylara to continue to feel superior to all the sweaty men and their rough manners, as she eats daintily and counsels patience. And mentions that you can't beat dragons or fire-lizards, unlike landbeasts. Here we are again, with the abuse as a casual thought.

Meron asks Kylara about how one Impresses, and that allows the narrative to show us more about what a shallow woman Kylara is supposed to be. She doesn't know why the beautiful women get passed over for the plain, and why "commoners" seem to always get chosen over the Weyrbred for queens, even though Weyrbred men usually (eventually) Impress. Considering "that brat of Brekke's Impressed three", Kylara's certain that "anyone on two legs" will do fine for this. Which could have been parlayed into a Groucho-like comment about never joining groups that would have her as a member, if the narrative wasn't insistent that she stay one-dimensional. So instead it just comes off as mean.

Meron fares no better, threatening Consequences for those who can't Impress. Which sets Kylara off laughing.

> She laughed at the black look on Meron's face until the Lord Holder, angered beyond caution, shook her arm roughly[...]"Laughter is better than threats, Lord Meron. Even you can't order the preference of dragonkind. And tell me, good Lord Meron, will you be subjected to the same unspeakable punishment if _you_ fail?"
> 
> Meron grabbed her arm in a painful grip[...]

And, completely unsurprisingly, we have Meron filling in for the F'lar role from Dragonflight. The eggs rocking and cracking is probably the only thing keeping Kylara from another set of bruises. And that's really not okay for anyone, character or reader. The narrative, though, wants us to focus on Kylara's inadequacies at this point, showing her to be avaricious of the power and freedom a Weyrwoman has, and wanting to dominate and control the miniature dragon in the ways that she can't with regard to Prideth.

> And in presenting these fire-lizard eggs to a Holder, particularly the most despised Holder of all, Meron of Nabol, Kylara struck back at all the ignominies and imagined slights she had endured at the hands of dragonmen and Pernese. The most recent insult - that the dishfaced fosterling of Brekke's had Impressed three, rejecting Kylara - would be completely avenged.

And then there is hatching, and some of the fire-lizards attack each other, but Kylara gets her gold queen and all is well, much to Prideth's annoyance. At least, we assume that's the case, even though the chapter ends before we get complete confirmation. It's really a rather short chapter.

Which gives us an opportunity, with the lack of major action, to talk about Kylara and her relationship to Lessa, Brekke, and the other Weyrwomen. We're supposed to believe that Kylara is nothing like Lessa. Kylara is a Hold-born noblewoman seeking to take back what she believes is rightfully hers, a quest that has taken her at least ten years. She has very few issues with using anyone and everyone to achieve her goal, and she hopes to goad men into fighting each other so that she can stand atop their rubble. Also, she was saved from the normal fate of women in Holds through being selected to ride a queen dragon. She's nothing like Lessa at all, is she? 

Really, though, the difference between Lessa and Kylara is that Kylara continues to openly pursue her ambitions, while Lessa has decided to cloak her ambitions in the clothing of acceptably-female behavior, so as to disguise her machinations from the men. So the narrative, which robbed Lessa of her revenge by giving us Jaxom, continues to punish Kylara for her ambition - Lessa got rid of her from Benden because she was too openly ambitious toward F'lar. The entire patriarchal culture Kylara has to fight against thinks beating women that get too uppity is a normal thing to do, wants women barefoot and pregnant, and has no qualms about kidnapping noble women to become slaves and servants to dragonriders. 

Kylara is portrayed as petty, mercurial, and jealous by the narrative, believing that being a Weyrwoman means unprecedented freedom to do what she wants to achieve her ends. Rather than that being petty shirking of responsibilities, what if it meant that Kylara was refusing to play the game and leveraging her position as immunity against consequences, openly advocating, though her very being, that it was possible to live a life differently than what the Weyrleaders said was their life? The narrative didn't believe in those values, so Kylara gets regularly punished by the narrative. By comparison, Lessa turned her overt strife into covert strife by adopting methods that pass Patriarchy - flirting, insinuation, influence, child-rearing (dragons, not humans) - and is rewarded by being able to manipulate others and having a seat at the table when the Big Plans come out to play. Lessa won't be able to take credit for anything that the men don't want her to, but she is better able to accomplish her goals. Mardra might be working on the same principle, but we've only heard of her, instead of seen her at work. Or Mardra might be more on Kylara's end, openly and actively trying to achieve equality for women on Pern.

Which brings us to Brekke. Brekke has opinions on things, but she stays quiet because Kylara wants to be in charge. Brekke runs the Weyr and nurses the injured and raises a child. She's the paragon of womanly virtue, according to the society, so if she's on the list of main characters, she will likely be rewarded by the narrative, probably by ascending when Kylara is inevitably knocked out of power. If she doesn't get that designation, though, there's a good chance Brekke will be used to indicate how evil an antagonist is, probably through violence done to her. Which is a lazy shortcut, if it happens, and will prove the inherently hypocritical nature of the Patriarchy of Pern, as well.

I really hope I'm wrong about that, and that the narrative at least reaches the bar of consistency in rewarding those who play by its rules. Otherwise, the cursing will likely continue until the narrative improves.

_[I'm going to to be terribly, totally wrong about this in a very short while. Because Brekke will do something that changes her status so completely that the narrative will consider her an acceptable target.]_


	8. Empathizing With One's Ancestors

Last time, the narrative gave us a Two Minutes Hate with regard to Kylara and Meron, but also, fire-lizard eggs hatched and presumably, Kylara and Meron both got one.

**Dragonquest: Chapter VII: Content Notes: Subtle Sexism**

Chapter VII opens with a trip to see Fandarel - the blacksmith Terry from the opening chapter is hale, hearty, and entirely sleep-deprived, just like F'lar. Who ignores the news from F'nor about fire-lizards before knowing what it was. We get confirmation the Mastersmith does have a sense of humor and a demonstration of a loudspeaker for communication in the Crafthall.

Wait, what? For a medieval pastiche, we have telegraph wires and devices, and an interoffice communication system, which no doubt requires some amount of transmission of audio over a wire. If it weren't for the dragons, we'd be firmly in steampunk territory with Pern. As it is, it's now really quite the mishmash of technology and feudal obligations, and the clash is starting to grind, because the technology already being deployed would easily adapt to a military use in case the subjects decided they didn't want to serve under awful Lord Holders. With Thread falling outside, it would be easy to arrange an "accident" where an unpopular Lord would be outside his Hold, with no way back in and the rain coming. Get the assistance of a dragonrider and you're all set. Of course, you still have to deal with the dragonriders if you want a proper democratic entity, even if you can flamethrower your liege at any time.

Then comes the distance-writer demonstration. Fandarel explains the chemistry: metal-acid reaction produces energy, which both drives the machine and allows the messages to be sent either or both of the two places the wires have been run to. To engage the system, acid from the telegraph arm presses on litmus, making marks and sending the electric signal to the destination, Or received electric signals actuate the arm and print messages from the other locales. During the demonstration, Lessa accidentally touches the paper, drawing a quip from F'lar about her acidity in word and deed. Leesa invites F'lar to try the same trick in response.

Mostly, though, this entire interlude serves to tell me the only way to figure out what sort of time period, or even type of novel, we're in... is to say "oh, fuck this" and _stop trying to figure it out_. Because the presence of electricity, even if it is DC, should mean a lot of possibilities just opened up for the Smiths to explore. Anyway, over a meal, we find that telegraph communication is not quite that easy, even if it is faster-than-dragon (which it really isn't, because dragons can time-travel and arrive in time for someone to get the message as it is dispatched) because constructing appropriate wire (which is being strung above ground for now) is difficult and the Holders are more interested in weapons than logistics.

At least, until Lessa tastes the food, at which point, the _saboteur of Fax's dinners_ declares a need for a better kitchen staff.

> Lessa had taken a sip of the **klah** and barely managed to swallow the acid stuff. The bread was lumpy and half-baked, the sausage within composed of huge, inedible chunks, yet both Terry and Fandarel ate with great appetite. Indifferent service was one matter; but decent food quite another.
> 
> "If this is the food he [the local Lord Holder] barters you for flamethrowers, I'd refuse," she exclaimed. "Even the fruit is rotten."
> 
> "Lessa!"  
>  [...]  
>  "What's your wife's name?" [Lessa asked.]
> 
> "Lessa," F'lar repeated, more urgently.
> 
> "No wife," the Smith mumbled,...
> 
> "Well, even a headwoman ought to be able to manage better than this."
> 
> Terry cleared his mouth to explain. "Our headwoman is a good enough cook but she's so much better at bringing up faded ink on the skins we've been studying that she's been doing that instead."
> 
> "Surely one of the other wives..."
> 
> Terry made a grimace. "We've been so pressed for help, with all these additional projects,[...]that anyone who can has turned crafter[...]"

Lessa declares she'll send over some of her excess women to cook, under strict orders not to get engaged in crafting, and thunders off to make a proper pot of _klah_.

Which conveniently leaves the men to discuss manly matters. I have to say, though, this is a nice call back to Lessa's previous life as a kitchen drudge involved in food preparation. It conjures an image of the recently-made Weyrwoman, many years ago, confronting the kitchen staff about technique and spicing and making sure that the food she was served would always be high-quality. But it also subtly reinforces the idea that cooking is women's work. Lessa runs down the people who should be cooking - a wife, a headwoman, excess women in her Weyr. No suggestion made for the men to handle their cooking, in case there's someone with an aptitude.

Actually, the Smthcrafthall is doing some interesting things regarding equality. Fandarel's quest for efficiency provides excellent cover for getting women and others who might be stuck in a role they don't like or aren't the best at to change and do what they're good at in service of the Craft, putting the best people to work on things. If his ideas escape his Crafthall and get in to others...

...which might be something F'lar is about to help with the pollination of, suggesting that the Masterharper could send copy scribes to help with the transcription of old Records, freeing up some personnel to go back to their Smithcraft. Terry espouses a view that knowledge should be preserved for all, a position that I applaud, and the Mastersmith thinks the scribes could be delivered by dragon for maximum efficiency and speed. Terry is thankful for the extra help, and expresses both his thanks and his assessment of what it's like to work with the time-skipped Weyrs.

> "I see it this way, and I've seen riders from every Weyr by now. The Oldtimers have been fighting Thread since their birth. That's all they've known. They're tired, and not just from skipping forward in time four hundred Turns. They're heart-tired, bone-tired. They've had too much rising to alarms, seen too many friends and dragons die, Threadscored. They rest on custom, because that's safest and takes the least energy. And they feel entitled to whatever they want. Their minds may be numb with too much time **between** , though they think fast enough to talk you out of anything. As far as they're concerned, there's always been Thread. There's nothing else to look forward to. They don't remember, they can't really conceive of a time, of **four hundred** Turns without **Thread**. We can. Our fathers could, and their fathers. We live at a different rhythm because Hold and Craft alike threw off that ancient fear and grew, in other ways and other paths, which we can't give up now. We exist only because the Oldtimers lived in their Time **and** in ours. And fought in both Times. We can see a way out, a life without Thread. They knew only one thing and they've taught us that. How to fight Thread. They simply can't see that **we** , that anyone, could take it just one step further and destroy Thread forever."  
>  [...]  
>  "I hadn't seen the Oldtimers in just that light," he [F'lar] said slowly.

And that, F'lar, is why you're the figurehead. You get to play the translator role between modernity and the time-skipped, and, assuming you don't let your ego get in the way, you'll be the one who can forge the understanding and help bring around the others to the new reality. After Terry finishes, Lessa enters with the pot of _klah_ , and the spell is broken, but not without a greater understanding. How long did MCU Captain America have to spend acclimating himself to the idea that he had lost sixty years of time? Or Aang, having been frozen in ice for a hundred years? Change is painful, even for those who live through it. How much more painful it must be to have had a complete change happen without you being there to live it, or to get adjusted to it? Time marches on, but for people invested in the past, it's always a pain to have to let go.

Having increased their empathy and sympathy for the time-skipped Weyrs, F'lar reads F'nor's message about fire-lizards. And for...the third time, I think, when someone mentions fire-lizards are Impressable, someone else asks if they can be trained as messengers. Either the narrative is trying really hard to alert us to a plot point, or people on Pern have remarkably similar ideas about novelty. Lessa and F'lar decide they might want to explore Fort Weyr for more hidden rooms, and...all that empathy they had just obtained in the abstract goes right out the window when having to consider the specifics of actually dealing with Mardra and T'ron. Ah, well, chapter's over.

_[Now I look at it and go, "There are no more ancient rooms than the ones at Benden, but surprisingly, everyone is pretty sensible about how if Benden has secret rooms, then Fort, the oldest of the Weyrs, should have some, too. It just turns out that Benden, as always, is the super-special Weyr, even when they're not the focus of the story." Because they are.]_


	9. Dread and Questions

Last time, F'lar and Lessa learned a thing or two about empathy...and just how brilliant the Crafters are...before promptly discarding the empathy and keepig the curiosity about fire-lizards in the South.

**Dragonquest, Chapter VIII: Content Notes: Sexism, Misogyny, Patriarchy, intentions of Domestic Abuse**

Chapter VIII takes us back to Southern Weyr, where Kylara is nowhere to be found, leaving Brekke and Mirrim to shoulder the workload of running the Weyr. Mirrim objects to this treatment fairly strenuously, as it offends her sense of fairness and justice. Brekke, current example of Womanly Virtue, intends to scold Mirrim for voicing those objections when F'nor calls her away. Thus, Mirrim escapes narrative punishment. Perhaps because, as a fosterling, her place in life has yet to be determined. Brekke, on the other hand, has been patiently fulfilling her ordained role for years, which will either result in her great reward, or being used by the narrative as a chew toy to induce feelings in the audience.

_[You can see that about right here is where I'm getting wise to what's about to happen. And then the narrative goes and confirms it.]_

After reassuring F'nor that his message to F'lar was delivered and making some excuses as to why F'lar didn't drop everything to come see, Brekke realizes that Wirenth, her queen, is preparing for the mating flight, and dashes off to see if it's true. F'nor sizes up the bronze population at Southern and comes to the conclusion that he doesn't like any of the prospective mates. His solution is to try and figure out how to arrange for a bronze he does like to happen to be in from another Weyr at the right time, since the more obvious solution would require him to acknowledge that he is attracted to her, and he's not supposed to be the jealous type, even as he recoils in horror at the thought of any of the Southern bronze riders mating with Brekke. F'nor suggests to Brekke that she might call in some outsiders, but she refuses, and F'nor ignores her visceral reaction to the idea.

Then, Brekke reveals to us that she's more like Lessa than just also having a queen that can talk to all dragons.

> "What I meant was, if the fire-lizards - who seem to be miniature dragons - can be Impressed by anyone who approaches them at the crucial moment, then fighting dragons - not just queens who don't chew firestone anyhow - could be Impressed by women, too."
> 
> "Fighting Thread is hard work. Leave it to men."
> 
> "You think managing a Weyr isn't hard work?" Brekke kept her voice even but her eyes darkened angrily. "Or plowing field and hollowing cliffs for Holds? And..."
> 
> F'nor whistled. "Why, Brekke, such revolutionary thoughts from a craftbred girl? Where women know there's only one place for them... Oh, you've got Mirrim in mind as a rider?"
> 
> "Yes. She'd be as good or better than some of the male weyrlings I know."  
>  [...]  
>  "Hey, backwing a bit, girl. We've enough trouble with the Oldtimers as it is without trying to get them to accept a girl riding a fighting dragon! C'mon, Brekke. I know your fondness for the cold, and she seems a good intelligent girl, but you must be realistic."
> 
> "I am," Brekke replied, so emphatically that F'nor looked at her in surprise. "Some riders should have been crafters or farmers - or - nothing, but they were acceptable to dragons on Hatching. Others are real riders, heart and soul and mind. Dragons are the beginning and end of their ambition."

Well, shit.

I was hoping Brekke would be able to get through things unscathed, but now that the narrative knows, I can only wait in horror to find out what it will do to her. Because she's right in every particular, to the best of our knowledge. The hatching that we got to see with Lessa had the candidates separated. What could have been if they were all together? Presumably, the Weyr culture on sexuality and relationships wouldn't change, you'd just have real equality possible in the dragonrider ranks.

Also, Brekke being craftbred, in addition to the chapter we just spent in the Crafthall, suggests that real equality is rapidly becoming a reality in Craft culture due to the outside pressures that require the very best to be put to work at their specialties, regardless of what outdated ideas about gender roles say. This trend should continue and spread and infect every other culture on Pern until equality is seen as entirely normal.

Finally, fuck you, F'nor, you shit-eating excuse for a person. You were supposed to be reasonable and pragmatic and open to new ideas, but you're apparently just as ensconced in misogyny as your brother is, and for the same wrong reason of tradition. (TRADITION.)

F'lar arrives, and Brekke heads back, which makes F'nor relieved to not have her talking about her wild ideas while he tries to get his brother to support him and Canth to be the arranged partner for Wirenth and Brekke. F'lar is wondering where everyone is (trying to catch fire-lizards, of course), and when T'bor wings in, F'lar gives him the hard truth about the out of phase Threadfall. Then F'lar gets to see Mirrim's three fire-lizards as she stirs a great kettle of soup. Mirrim does her best impression of a star-struck girl, and F'lar and F'nor talk about the use of fire-lizards as trainable entities, Brekke's idea about Mirrim (F'lar laughs, but gives the matter no serious consideration), and, oh, wait, a Thread attack is coming.

For supposedly being lazy on the beach, however, the Southern Weyr fighters are excellent scramblers and are already in the air before the warning finishes. F'nor has to sit it out, since he is still injured, Everything appears to go according to plan, except that the vegetation clearly shows signs of having been hit by Thread, but there are no burrows, a lot of grubs, and there is a lot of dead Thread in the water. Something is going on here, and F'lar and T'bor both know it. Yet even a panic sweep looking for Thread finds none at all. 

And no Kylara either, which brings out F'lar's domestic violence instincts, and his regret that he suggested Kylara become a Weyrwoman, which shift to confusion as to why she didn't appear when the warning call went out. When she does reappear, with her Impressed gold queen fire-lizard, she's busily being angry and manipulative to T'bor, which invokes F'lar's sympathy for T'bor in a definite "bros before hos" sort of way, including some delight at the idea that Prideth might get flown by an Oldtimer that would quickly bring her in line. Good to know F'lar's domestic abuse proclivities haven't dulled any. Kylara tries to show F'lar her gold, but it scratches her trying to regain balance, which provokes Kylara, sending the fire-lizard disappearing and getting Prideth entirely riled up, too the point where she doesn't listen to any other dragon. That's a Bad Thing. F'lar suggests letting someone else have Kylara, but T'bor isn't having any of it, and then details what he knows of Kylara giving eggs to Holders. Which only adds to F'lar's worries about everything, including the out-of-pattern Threadfall and the fact that Thread has likely been falling on the Southern Continent for a very long time, but not leaving any marks or burrows to signify that it had been there.

Unable to leave without more investigation, F'lar loops back to his previous investigation site, to see the plant repairing itself from the strike. F'lar is able to put two and two together, hops back in time to watch the Thread fall, then collects a plant with grubs attached to go show the Masterherdsman. Whom he also tells about the likely connection between fire-lizards and dragons, to the Masterherdsman's utter disbelief. To be fair, the Masterherdsman is being asked to believe that breeding somehow transformed the fire-lizards into dragons over many generations, instead of the idea that fire-lizards may have been genetically altered through splicing, gene manipulation, and recombination into dragons, which would sound equally far-fetched, but at least would be able to explain the wild variance between the two relations.

The Masterherdsman, however, immediately smashes the grubs from the plant, over F'lar's protests about their utility, because they are "an abomination", and F'lar leaves, pissed, to end the chapter. Again, we have worldbuilding without foreshadowing. Grubs are abominations? Then F'lar would have had a strong revulsion reaction to them, I would have thought. Unless it's something that dragonriders are just never told about, because they don't work with the ground. That, though, would have provoked a reaction of surprise from F'lar at how the grubs were treated, not annoyance. So F'lar knows, but is somehow able to get over what his tradition (Tradition!) has told him about them in this case, when he's still pretty in favor of doing things the old way if he hasn't thought up a better reason and new way. F'lar, your characterization is getting inconsistent, it seems. It would have made more sense for it to be F'nor, but he's still injured, so I guess you'll have to do? 

Next time...things get ugly.


	10. Trigger Warning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **  
>  _Chapter IX is, mercifully, short, but it contains an on-page rape. Please consider your own health and spoons before proceeding._   
>  **

Last time, Thread fell on the Southern Continent, but its effect was entirely blunted through processes not yet completely understood. This only added to F'lar's worries that everything was spinning out of his control. 

**Dragonquest, Chapter IX: Content Notes: Rape**

Chapter IX returns us to F'nor, still healing, but now very interested in how the vegetation survives Threadfall so robustly and also interested in the various philosophical differences between Hold, Craft, and Weyr.

> Weyrmen insisted they were superior to commoners even while they consistently exhibited the same appetites as other men for material possessions and nubile women. Yet they did indeed refute the Crafter contention that dragonriding was a skill no more exacting than any craft on Pern, for in no other craft did a man risk his life as a matter of course.

Except, of course, when Thread falls. Or if one is working with agenothree, or Fandarel's chemical reactions, or is mining firestone. Our many other crafts that pose a risk to life.

F'nor refuses to contemplate the idea of death for himself or Canth, and is summoned by Brekke for a checkup. Which leads to Brekke complaining about the feeling that violent upheaval is coming - not a mating flight, though.

> "It's just that everything is going away - disorienting, changing..."
> 
> "Is that all? Didn't I hear you suggesting a minor change our two? Letting a girl Impress a fighting dragon? Handing out fire-lizards to placate the common mass?"
> 
> "That's change. I'm taking about a disorientation, a violent upheaval..."  
>  [...]  
>  Something in her candid gaze disturbed him deeply.

F'nor again tries to get her to accept outside bronzes for Wirenth, which Brekke rejects, again, and F'nor expresses his irritation that she's not fighting for herself. Brekke gives F'nor a withering look as he recites her virtues, and then finishes his sentence for him. 

> "Useful, worthwhile, wholesome, capable, dependable, the list is categoric, F'nor, I know the whole litany...I know what I am."  
>  [...]  
>  To erase that self-deprecation, to make amends for his own maladroitness, F'nor leaned across the table to kiss her on the lips.

First and foremost, no matter how intimate you are with someone, a kiss is not an apology. Especially without any context, like maybe, _apologizing_.

Second, F'nor, Brekke is giving you "back off" signals. Back off.

The narrative, on the other hand, has other ideas. He only meant the kiss as an apology, but Brekke leans in to it, and into him, wholeheartedly. The innocence trips F'nor's radar and he correctly surmises that Brekke is still a virgin, and that she's been letting everyone assume T'bor has had sex with her on Wirenth's mating flights. You see, she loves F'nor, ever since he came for her on the search for queen candidates, and she didn't know that only bronzes get to fly queens, so she had been saving herself for him.

F'nor makes a hash of it, blithely assuming that Brekke will adapt to Weyr culture's more sexually libertine attitudes.

> "I'm _not_ weyrbred. I don't have that kind of - of - wantonness in my nature. I'm - I'm inhibited. There! I said it. I'm inhibited, and I'm afraid I'll inhibit Wirenth.[...]I never saw any man I wanted to - to have -[...]Not that way. Not until I saw you. I don't want any other man to possess me."

F'nor takes this idea into account, thinks about the Southern riders, and decides that he's going to take Brekke before they can, thinking they'll brutalize her.

**_Last chance. After this, it's triggers all the way down._ **

> He held her tightly as she seemed to shrink with revulsion from him as well as the imminent event.[...]Still holding her, he carried her out of the weyrhold, smothering her protest against his chest as she realized his intention.[...]He wanted to be gentle, but unaccountably, Brekke fought him. She pleaded with him, crying out wildly that they'd rouse the sleeping Wirenth. **He wasn't gentle but he was thorough, and, in the end, Brekke astounded him with a surrender as passionate as if her dragon had been involved.**

_[A cocowhat first, then we lead into a clip from the Simpsons that will get plenty more use as we go along, trust me.]_

> (Transcript: Homer: (angry monotone voice) Kids, could you step outside for a sec?
> 
> (Bart and Lisa run out of the room)
> 
> (Homer takes a deep breath, then shouts) FU-
> 
> (Homer's profanity is cut off by a pipe organ. Shocked neighbors look at the Simpsons house)
> 
> Ned Flanders: Dear Lord, that's the loudest profanity I ever heard!)

**_Fuck you, F'nor._ **

Fuck you and your brother and your rape culture and your rapist behavior. I want new protagonists **_right fucking now_**.

Brekke gave F'nor all the back the ever loving fuck off signals he needed to avoid this choice. To be that dragonman that she adored and feel in love with. So now, he's broken her image of him as the perfect gentleman, he's raped her for her first time, and even by his own admission, he wasn't gentle about it, either. Rather than send him off to die by having Thread eat him alive, the narrative will deliver it's promised punishment to Brekke by having her stay in love and stay with him. We can already see the hints in this - F'nor is now ready to break with tradition (tradition. *spit*) and have Canth participate in Wirenth's mating fight. So that he can keep Brekke to himself. 

And he uses every underhanded trick he's learned from "a hundred causal encounters" to seduce her again and bring her over to his way of thinking by exciting her body.

The last few pages of the chapter is Kylara finding renewed purpose in her quest for revenge...and adding F'nor and Brekke too her revenge list by discovering their love nest without being seen. Because clearly F'nor should be sleeping with pretty Kylara instead of plain Brekke.

Fuck. This is only going to get worse, isn't it.


	11. Throwback Day

The more distance we can put between last chapter and where we are, the better.

**Dragonquest, Chapter X: Content Notes: Genocidal intent**

Chapter X begins with Masterharper Robinton getting dressed in formal clothes. Because there's still a wedding for everyone to attend. Which has all sorts of horrible implications considering what's happened last chapter. Three dragons appear to take the Masterharper to his destination, one from the Weyr that serves the Hold where the wedding is, one from the Weyr the Crafthall is protected by, and one from Benden, because F'lar has no intention of making Robinton feel slighted. The other two riders immediately argue about who gets to take the Masterharper, while the bronze rider from Benden politely waits and asks Robinton his preference. Robinton chooses the bronze and loads his backup band on the other two dragons.

After disembarking, Robinton thanks the dragon, Lioth, for the ride, and is startled to hear a reply. Perhaps Robinton has the potential to be a rider, too? (More likely, the dragons can talk to whomever they want, they just don't normally do so.)

Through Robinton's eyes, we get exposition. Mastercraftsmen are all here, the Weaver, Miner, Herder, Tanner, and Farmer seen immediately, and likely Fandarel around. We also get a little about how Holders trend to try and have lots of sons, so that one will hopefully meet with approval by the Conclave of Holders to succeed. They also have to approve the wedding that's going on, and Holders practice the royal pastime of sending their children off to be fostered at other Holds and accepting other fosters. In our reality, that practice was a good way of making sure that lords didn't go attacking and razing each other, as well as providing an outside perspective on running a kingdom. Also, possibly, exposure to potential marriage partners. Considering that we're not that far away from Fax and other attempts by Holders to conquer each other, this was probably a practice swiftly reinstated to ensure some peace in the era of dragonrider power. If for no other reason than to try and keep the Holders united against the riders.

Lytol arrives with news - Fandarel isn't there, and he fills in Robinton about the fire-lizards that Kylara brought, mentioning that Meron Impressed one. Then one of the Harper apprentices gives him the mood of the crowd with regard to Threadfall, and a rather curious convention that appears to be developing...

> "For instance, they refer to 'that Weyrleader' meaning their own weyrbound leader. 'The Weyrleader' always means F'lar of Benden. 'The Weyrleader' had understood. 'The Weyrleader' had tried. 'She' means Lessa. 'Her' means their own Weyrwoman."

Interesting. It seems like more than just F'lar is noticing the differences, now.

And speaking of "The Weyrleader", he and Lessa arrive, resplendent and looking good... right until Kylara arrives and basically blows dust and wind into their entrance by flying Prideth on a buzzing pass and having Prideth have to backwing to avoid hitting things. Then Kylara and Meron make their entrance, with their fire-lizards perched, ready to steal F'lar and Lessa's thunder... and F'lar and Lessa steal it right back by presenting the couple-to-be-married with their own eggs to hatch and Impress. Which works right up until Kylara lets slip that her fire lizard ate Thread.

And then, all hell breaks loose. For a short while, anyway, as the plot demands the Conclave of the Holders to meet. While that happens, Robinton receives another dragon-message, right before a dragonrider arrives with the same message. Which means Robinton steps into the middle of Kylara explaining how she knew the fire-lizard eats Thread - an out-of-phase Threadfall, where Kylara couldn't convince T'kul to summon the wings, and so she had to use Prideth to summon them instead. After preening a bit from well-deserved praise, the Weyrleaders and Lessa conspire to keep Kylara away from the party, using one of Robinton's apprentices to keep her occupied. So that they can demonstrate the distance-writer with Fandarel, officially, but most likely also to keep Kylara from sparking something off. Presumably, since F'lar is basically walking on eggshells to try and pull this gambit off, he wants as few uncontrolled variables as possible. Kylara certainly counts as variable.

Fandarel finishes hooking up the device and sends a test message before all the dragons indicate a great disturbance at the Conclave. One of the ancient rooms in Fort Weyr has produced a telescope, and T'ron has gazed upon the surface of the Red Star. Before we can get to that significance, though, the telegraph indicates another out-of-phase Threadfall, right before a dragonrider arrives to confirm. Which creates a full-scramble situation, right until T'ron plants himself in F'lar's way and makes the most Idiot Ball-enabled declaration I have seen from him yet.

> "Since when has Benden Weyr concerned itself with Igen and Ista?[...]And rushed to Nabol's aid?"  
>  [...]  
>  "Thread falls, dragonman. Igen and Ista fly winglight, with riders helping at Telgar Weyr. Should we feast while others fight?"

_[Apply one cocowhat and call us in the morning.]_

You have _got_ to be kidding me. A Weyrleader is willing to let people die because...well, apparently, he's had enough of F'lar being the one everyone is talking about, with his modern notions and willingness to help everyone. So he picks a fight, in the middle of a meeting of the Holders, whole dragonriders are trying to respond to a Threadfall, and goes after F'lar with his belt knife. Unlike his brother, who was caught by surprise when a Fort dragonrider pulled a belt knife on him, F'lar is ready, gives T'ron as much time to abort as possible, and then gives him a fight. Unlike Fax, however, T'ron is still in fighting trim. F'lar is able to deduce the reason for T'ron fighting him publically - to silence him and prevent him from bringing the other Oldtimers to bear on T'kul abandoning Kylara and land to Thread - which, by the way, isn't a very good strategy, hinging everything on one fight.

There's no guarantee that the others will fall in line if F'lar dies, there's no guarantee that the next Weyrleader won't be just as compassionate and headstrong, and there's no guarantee the Lords Holder and the Mastercrafters, who are witnessing this, won't turn completely on T'ron. And, of course, there's the possibility that T'ron could _lose_. Now, if T'ron were, say, goaded into it through the mental abilities of one Sith Lady while angered at the Red Star, that would at least have precedent. So, until the text directly contradicts me, I'm going to say Lessa had a mind in this.

In any case, if we weren't supposed to see how this fight is similar to the one against Fax, the way it proceeds is much the same - lighter, faster F'lar gets taken by surprise to start by how good his opponent is, recovers quickly, manages to talk about the politics while fighting for his life, goes in for a solid hit, finds himself on the receiving end of a much more solid hit to the abdomen, is saved from his death by luck (although in this case, it seems more like Lessa has figured out the telekinetic part of the Force and is able to push T'ron's strike aside just enough), and takes advantage of the opportunity to stick his knife such that it grates on the ribs. T'ron dies, and after a Bond One-Liner, F'lar intends to fight Thread. He's not in fighting gear, though, so he moves to collect the nearest set by trying to strip T'ron's corpse of his gear. Unsurprisingly, Mardra tries to fight him off, because T'ron is still dead and what F'lar is doing looks suspiciously like desecration of a corpse.

Oh, wait, T'ron isn't dead, because his dragon hasn't taken a suicide flight. So it's totally okay to strip him of his stuff now. Instead, we get one of those movie scenes where, after having beaten the Big Bad, or his seemingly-invincible lieutenant, the hero shouts "Who's with me?" and everyone joins in, naming themselves one by one until it's a cacophony of alliances. So, really, its just the narrative grandstanding a bit while it gives F'lar everything he wants. Even when F'lar really says that anybody not with him can be exiled to the Southern Weyr. Then F'lar rides off to fight Thread, while Lessa stays behind to manage people, specifically Mardra. Still can't be giving Lessa credit or glory, even though she might have provoked this whole thing.

And this would be a crowning moment in any other book... except we're not even halfway through. Clearly T'ron can't have been the real villain of this book. It's a bit of a thing in these books so far to have big fights early on. 

After fighting Thread, F'lar muses on how awful it was for the telegraph to have worked, but failed because Thread hit the wire and severed it. (See? Bury the wires to have a better chance. Strange that nobody thought that might happen when they have to fight an airborne menace regularly. Fandarel, however, learns from his mistakes and has plans to reinforce or bury the wires for the next incarnation.) Over the careful and tender ministrations of Lessa, we find that Mardra made a stand to stay, but "her arrogance and shrewishness" left her bereft of support, and so she accepted exile. Given the narrative's track record regarding punishing Weyrwomen, I wonder what Mardra actually did that brought the wrath of the narrative. Asserting her power too strongly, maybe? In any case, since Mardra goes to Southern, Kylara wants to go to Fort and be its Weyrwoman. That can't happen, because narrative fiat, but Kylara does get the High Reaches Weyr, and one of the other Weyrwomen candidates at Fort will take over, so as to leave the least amount of feathers ruffled as possible.

And then we find out that Southern is intended as a prison and for all the dragonriders there to have their lines die out, because none of the queens there will likely produce any more eggs, and especially not queens. Which runs a bit of a chill up the spine, because either F'lar is a better planner than previously thought (not likely - the narrative thrives on his luck. Also, Lessa.) or is really good at thinking on his feet to take advantage of opportunities (much more likely). Either way, it makes F'lar a strong antagonist to any women who want to escape the narrative's insistence on gender and sex roles. 

Here's hoping someone gets out without suffering greatly.


	12. Trauma Conga Line

Last time, there was a wedding. And a knife fight, a show of loyalty, exile, change in political organization, fighting Thread, and a whole lot more.

**Dragonquest: Chapter XI-XII: Content Notes: Rape, sex-negativity, mention of suicide**

_[At this point, I'm disgusted and fed up with both of the sons of F'lon, and so they stop having names, and instead are referred to their title or their dragon color and most prominent action. About the only time they'll start having names again is in quotations of the source material. So, you'll want to keep that in mind going forward.]_

Chapter XI has the Brown Rider Rapist talking with his brother, the Benden Weyrleader (with a figleaf of protection regarding his own rape) about all the changes that have happened, including the exiles kicking everyone else out and saying they'll toast anyone who comes close that isn't one of theirs. The leader of Benden has new assignments for his brother, to collect fire-lizard eggs, but also to collect grubs so they can be studied for their Thread-killing abilities.

Then, everybody in charge has a meeting, Weyr, Craft, and Hold alike, to discuss what happened last time and put some new protocols in place. The new Weyrleader of the High Reaches has realized what kind of a hash was made by the old one, including nearly having his own stabby run-in with a Holder who had not been treated well by the previous leaders. The meeting proceeds smoothly, with reassurances that there will be enough riders to handle the Thread menace for the day, before Fort's Lord Holder demands that the dragonriders take the dragons to the Red Star and destroy Thread at its source. Which is met entirely with an enumeration of what kind of undertaking such a task would be (also a basic failure to grasp that the Red Star may not be hospitable to men or dragons), including the likelihood of leaving Pern defenseless during such an attack. Instead, it's suggested to continue unearthing ancient rooms and developing today's technique and technology to protect what already is in anticipation of being able to take the fight to the source. 

And that's chapter XI. A meeting, after some secret orders. Oh, and after another of those grand shows of agreement, an argument breaks out over who gets the next batch of fire-lizard eggs. Not even F'lar of the Immense Ego appreciates what he's just been shown about how difficult it will really be to hold together his coalition. 

Chapter XII opens with the BrnRR and the Benden Weyrleader in one of the secret rooms in Benden, running an experiment - will grubs survive on northern continent plants? And, if they do, will they munch Thread in the same way? So the BrnRR is told to go catch himself some Thread to being back for the experiment. The narrative almost wants us to believe it will punish him for what he did, but that would be completely against type, so he'll probably manage it without injury. 

Incidentally, at the beginning of the chapter, we find that the peephole Felessan and Jaxom used earlier has been sealed up "because it bothered Ramoth". We'll have to take their word for it, but I think it probably bothered Lessa more that there was a vulnerability than Ramoth. That said, the peep show aspect I alluded to back in that chapter is definitely out in force here, as this peeking thing has been going on for generations.

Anyway, the two RRs bicker jokingly before the BrnRR asks what the Benden Weyrleader intends to do with the grubs should the experiment succeed. 

"Why then, son of my father, we breed hungry grubs by the tankful and spread them all over Pern."

I'd normally complain that this doesn't take into account possible side effects from introducing a new population, but the success of the grubs in the South suggests that things have a high probability of success in the North. Assuming there isn't a natural predator for the grubs somewhere.

The Benden Weyrleader reveals that he believes that everything so far has been building up to them being able to go to the Red Star and end the Thread threat forever. Because his ego is sufficiently large for him to believe that fate and history itself have existed just for him and his to do this greatest thing, for which his name will be known forever.

To be fair, the narrative has been basically playing along with this idea since the beginning, making sure that the Benden Weyrleader always comes out ahead or smelling like the Pernese equivalent of roses when deposited in a situation that is complete dragon shit. Usually by causing the antagonists to make out-of-character mistakes or just dropping an advantage into his lap.

The BrnRR, however, reasserts his practical side and asks what happens to dragonriders after the thing dragonriders are needed for goes away permanently. He's not sure everyone could adjust to farming or crafting or some other pursuit, because he knows the Lords Holder will stop sending their tribute once the threat is gone. Which would shift this world more into the pastiche of Latin Christendom that would normally be expected, but leave the outsized military force with nothing to do. We know what happens then, and it's generally not pretty for anyone other than aristocrats or the military class - imagine the Crusades or the various wars between England and France, but fight with mounted dragons instead of mounted knights, and wait for Fandarel (or a successor) to develop firearms to spur the next uneasy truce, and so forth. Dragons would probably settle into being couriers and security forces for trade caravans, when they weren't being hired out as mercenaries for various Holder wars.

Anyway, the BrnRR feels much more comfortable about eventually asking the Benden Weyrleader about whether he can participate in Wirenth's mating flight, figuring his own disregard of traditions would be seen as no biggie compared to the social upheaval the Benden Weyrleader is accomplishing on a daily basis. At this point, I don't necessarily see the Benden Weyrleader giving his permission, because I can see it sticking in his throat over what the idea of "open flight" would mean from that point on, as well as the likely further estrangement of the time-skipped Weyrs due to their strongest flyers being given a four-hundred Turn disadvantage against even the lowliest of modern blue riders. No, social change is for the "commoners" and people who believe differently, thankyouverymuch.

As the BrnRR's thoughts drift to his victim, he thinks she'll be asleep, because it's night in her new home. Brekke, the target of the BrnRR's possessive interests, is jetlagged, however, and is awake in the middle of the night. She takes a bath with her fire-lizard and mentally reviews all the work that needs to be done to get the Weyr back into form, as T'kul raided the place for the best of everything and took almost all the supplies in the Weyr with him to Southern. (Which makes sense - deny the invaders any advantage by taking anything not nailed down with you when you vacate the castle. If they had fields to burn, they probably would have. Even in our modern times, this is true - change of business, change of political leaders, whatever it may be, there's always something that's going to be taken away so as to force the newcomers to have to build things up again on their own.) Since Brekke didn't have any warning about the change, she couldn't do the same at Southern.

Brekke is also adjusting to having to depend on tithes for supplies, unlike her Crafthall upbringing and the relative natural abundance at Southern, considering alternatives to having to ask others for help, cataloging the extensive amount of repairs needed (attributing this to Merika, the Weyrwoman of High Reaches while T'kul was in charge) while knowing Kylara will want no disruption in her lifestyle, and generally trying not to go into a logistics panic about everything that has to be done. After her assessment is complete, she's less panic-y and more aggravated at past mismanagement and the deliberate sabotage of the Weyr's natural lake by T'kul so as to deny a fresh water source. (Also, regrettably, makes sense for the same reasons as above.) Since sterilization by heat and/or chemicals is not part of the scientific canon here, or the "household garbage" that is fouling the lake contains toxic elements that could not be fixed by boiling the water, Brekke has to figure out where to get a potable supply from. Kylara says she'll gather some from Meron, which is not Brekke's (or T'bor's) preferred solution, but it works, and soon there is the comforting hum of logistics and inventory. So much so that Brekke is able to shut out the fact that Wirenth is ready to fly and mate until her fire-lizard brings her out of her concentration.

If there was anything that could make Brekke panic, this is it. And panic she does, although the single shred of advice anyone gives - don't let the dragon gorge on food - does sink in enough for Brekke to exert control. Brekke has zero interest in the bronze riders, and is hoping against hope that her rapist will arrive, so that when she is overwhelmed by Wirenth's desires, she can at least be raped by the rider who has already done it and that she thinks she loves.

Instead, Wirenth meets another queen in heat, Prideth, who is returning from Meron. And a queen fight breaks out, because Wirenth sees Prideth as an intruder and competition. Prideth bats Wirenth aside to start with, but Wirenth gets the drop on Prideth and gouges her deeply. The two queens exchange blows as a circle of other dragons tries to cut them both off, but Prideth pokes one of Wirenth's eyes and blinds it, and Wirenth gets her revenge by biting Prideth's tail, walking up her back with her talons, and biting Prideth's neck for control as she tries to smash the other queen into the mountains. Canth interferes in the dive by biting Wirenth, Ramoth tries to keep Prideth from getting crushed, but Wirenth is having none of this and pops into hyperspace with Prideth to try and shake the interference.

And then, in the middle of this action sequence, we skip backward in tine so we can see it all again from the BrnRR's perspective, from the fire-lizard warning signal to confirmation that Prideth is also in heat, to seeing how completely Brekke is linked with Wirenth. For now, at least, the BrnRR does the sensible thing and keeps the area around Brekke completely clear so that she doesn't injure anyone while linked to Wirenth. 

And then, we find out the real consequence of the hyperspace hop - Wirenth and Prideth are both _dead_.

_[Add a cocowhat to all of this. Also,]_

That is the sound of the narrative exacting its revenge on two potentially progressive women, by putting them in direct conflict under the fig leaf of both their queens getting ready to mate. There is, at least, no stooping to the idea that Brekke-Wirenth or Kylara-Prideth are enjoying getting their frustrations out on each other this way. The will be plenty of blame to sling, though, and it will likely fall completely on Kylara, since she, like the green rider that attacked the BrnRR, took a female dragon out of her Weyr too close to a mating flight.

What I want to know is why the two of them had to run into conflict at all. Sure, mating instinct happens, but there should be no issue at all if Prideth takes off in any of the other directions except Wirenth. The narrative tells us that Kylara was having sex with Meron when Wirenth started her flight, and the sex is what set Prideth off on her flight with Wirenth "right above her". That's still narrative interference, though, deliberately putting the two queens close by so they will fight. Surely Kylara would know the minute Wirenth took wing, and likely what vector Wirenth was flying, before Prideth went into the air. Even if she was having sex with someone else. Also, it seems like there would have been enough time in between Prideth starting her mating feeding and taking to the air for a position to be established on the other flight, and possibly to ship in enough bronze riders to handle the second queen. If there's enough control to stop a gold queen from gorging herself, there should be enough control, especially from the senior Weyrwoman, to direct the flight's general path. Enough other dragons arriving from hyperspace would make it easier for air traffic control to keep the two flights away from each other. Especially once Ramoth gets involved, since she and Lessa can play the radio tower.

It doesn't make narrative sense for this to happen, unless the narrative has an interest in hurting the women. It's already established Kylara as independent and not caring about things except as they relate to her, and has already grievously wounded Brekke and Kylara at the hands of other men. These deaths serve no apparent narrative purpose other than spite, and possibly sex-negativity, since the cause of everything is Kylara indulging her own sexual desires (and with a "commoner", no less).

Well, maybe. In addition to all this punishment and sex-negativity, this could be the narrative's way of answering the question of "What happens to tradition when Canth flies Wirenth?" The answer, apparently, is "Kill Wirenth and the problem goes away. Oh, and kill Prideth, too, so that we don't have to make up another disaster to punish Kylara with." Which is pretty much the worst answer to the question, ever.

The chapter closes with the BrnRR panicking that his prize will try to suicide, as riders are apt to do when their dragons die, and Mirrim demonstrating the same practical knowledge that Brekke did, bringing a tray of strong drinks while the Weyrleaders and Lessa settle in for the vigil and for sorting out what needs to be done now that everything at High Reaches had just gone fucking pear-shaped.


	13. The Aftermath

Last time, the narrative inflated the egos of the confirmed rapist half-brothers before inflicting a series of unnecessary traumas on Brekke, culminating in the death of her dragon, Wirenth, and Kylara's dragon, Prideth, in a terrible two-fer that seems to be composed mostly of spite.

**Dragonquest, Chapter XIII: Content Notes: Depression, suicidal ideation**

It has been six days since the loss of both gold dragons, and Masterharper Robinton has...

No, I can't continue yet. A six day time skip after this tragedy robs everyone of the ability to do those lovely empathetic things that are so important after death, things like the expression of anger, the close calls of depression and the rest of the things that would produce all sorts of character development. That has been taken from us, to be replaced by Robinton's retrospective. This is a very poor storytelling decision, and lessens the impact of the event. It's probably supposed to blunt any empathy we might feel for Brekke or Kylara, but it also prevents us from getting the entire message the narrative wanted to give us about what happens to women who try to be progressive.

So. Six days have passed, and Robinton isn't sure if the best way to keep people from dwelling too long on the tragedy is to push forward with the idea of taking a trip to the Red Star. But he's attending a viewing party at Fort, where he is able to mentally comment on the virtues of having many people know all the Craft secrets - he has five possible successors and three apprentices studying to be possible successors, unlike the other Crafts that apparently don't spread their knowledge around, despite existing in a culture that regularly complains about the variability of its paper records _and that has an entire Craft devoted to the transmission and preservation of culture though songs, poems, and other oral methods_. We're supposed to brush it off as if they were trade secrets, but over the last four hundred Turns, each of the Mastercraftsmen has seen proof of how much data and information has been lost though transmission methods that lack redundancy, and had apparently decided that the secrecy is more important than the redundancy. Bullshit. Especially since Fandarel had no apparent backup method, despite his relentless quest for efficiency. I would think every Smith knows as much of the knowledge as their brains can handle, so that the teaching and transmission of the knowledge goes as efficiently as possible. And the same for every other Craft.

Anyway, Robinton asks Lessa about Brekke.

> "She does as well as can be expected. F'nor insisted that we bring her to his Weyr. The man's emotionally attached to her - far more than gratitude for any nursing. Between him, Manora, and Mirrim, she's never alone."
> 
> "And - Kylara?"
> 
> Lessa pulled her hand from his. "She lives!"

And there's the meat of it, how we're supposed to view this. Brekke, since she was sweet and innocent, and a main character loved her enough to forcibly have sex with her, is being cared after and worried about. Kylara? Two words, with clear contempt for the thought that she is alive. Lessa blames Kylara, so everyone else at Benden likely does as well. And likely blames Kylara for having an active sex life as the cause. (Lessa, remember, is apparently unable to conceive, but this seems more than just jealousy at potential fertility.) You could search for a clearer example of the virgin-whore dichotomy if you wanted to with regards to Brekke and Kylara, but I don't think there will be many more that are this obvious to follow.

Brekke, as the good girl in this pairing, is going to be re-presented as a candidate for Impressing a queen dragon at the first opportunity, which is a blatant disregard for custom and tradition (tradition!) that nobody is raising an objection over. Lessa also doesn't understand why Brekke isn't more active, since she can still talk to all the other dragons.

> "Brekke says nothing. She will not even open her eyes. She can't be sleeping all the time. The lizards and the dragons tell us she's awake. You see,... Brekke can hear any dragon. Like me. She's the only other Weyrwoman who can. And all the dragons listen to her."  
>  ...  
>  "Surely that's an advantage if she's suicidal?"
> 
> "Brekke is not - not actively suicidal. She's craftbred, you know," Lessa said in a flat, disapproving tone of voice.

_[Cocowhat++]_

And then there's this fucked-up classist bullshit about non-Weyrbred people. That Lessa feels entirely comfortable saying _in front of the Masterharper_ , who is presumably also craftbred. I really wonder what Robinton thinks of the dragonriders when they aren't around. Some part of dealing with all these people that think they're better than you must grate at some point. Not to mention that Lessa disapproves of _Brekke not trying to kill herself_.

> "No, I didn't know," Robinton murmured encouragingly after a pause. He was thinking Lessa wouldn't ever contemplate suicide in a similar circumstance and wondered what Brekke's "breeding" had to do with a suicidal aptitude.
> 
> "That's her trouble. She can't actively seek death, so she just lies there. I have this incredible urge...to beat or pinch or slap her - anything to get some response from the girl. It's not the end of the world, after all. She **can** hear other dragons. She's not bereft of all contact with dragonkind, like Lytol."
> 
> "She must have time to recover from the shock..."
> 
> "I know, I know...but we don't **have** time. We can't get her to realize it's better to **do** things..."

And... this actually makes sense, awful behavior that it is. Robinton, the Harper, fundamentally understands what depression is and can relate to it. Lessa and the dragonriders, because their pair-bond is so deep-set that it is a core part of their being, as unshakable a fact as their own existence, that they cannot really conceive of what life would be like without their dragon. And so, they lack empathy, not because they choose not to (well, that might be too generous), but because they _can't_. Which is why Lessa doesn't understand why Brekke is still depressed, despite being able to maintain contact with other dragons. She thinks the connection is still there, even though it isn't. Lessa thinks Brekke lost a very close friend, but has others to sustain her, where Brekke lost the entity that she loved the most in her life, and that hole can't be filled by the presence of other friends. It's actually a little sad here, even though Lessa appears to be taking the Weyrleader's technique to heart on how to get someone reluctant to do what you want as her primary desire. Because the misunderstanding is so fundamental, and Robinton understands that getting Brekke moving will not be sufficient to cure the depression.

Brekke will need a lot of time to grieve, and, if it's possible, to heal from what has happened to her, and it will take much longer than six days. After all, there are cultures where the surviving spouse is expected to be in mourning for at least a year in our world. I wonder if dragonriders have developed mourning rituals for lost dragons, or whether they have basically assumed that riders without dragons will find a way to commit suicide and hold off on the ritual until both are gone. Since, in this set of books, we have only Lytol as the example of what happens when the dragon dies before the rider, there's nobody who can really speak to this part of dragonrider culture.

I'd also like to know why he hasn't been called in as a consultant, though, since, again, he's the only one with a clue as to what Brekke is going through.

Before moving on, is also like to now that this is the second moment of Big Empathy in this book, and that all the empathetic characters (Terry, Brekke, Robinton) are all either in the Crafts or come from there. Whatever it is they are doing in those Halls, it should be replicated planet-wide, because both the Holdbred and Weyrbred seem to be missing the ability to empathize outside a very carefully selected few. That's a shame, because when we see empathy, it's loving and beautiful and I want more of this instead of the other stuff.

Anyway, the Brown Rider Rapist, Manora, and Mirrim are all fretting over Brekke, with the BrnRR sounding much like he's either really panicked because he loves Brekke, or really panicked because of what he did right before Brekke got in the fight and feels guilty, and the Benden Weyrleader has taken sick by popping through hyperspace to the fighting queens before his own knife wounds had fully healed. 

Back to the viewing party at Fort. Meron appears to observe the Red Star through the telescope, sending Robinton and Lessa into disapproval of his presence so soon after his involvement in the incident. And by involvement, we mean that he was the person Kylara was having sex with. Still, that line of disapproval is a pretty thin one, considering that Lessa was involved in trying to stop the fight and is here to observe as well. So Meron steps up to the eyepiece and looks. He's shocked at first, but then steps back up for another good long look at it. After Lessa accuses him of monopolizing the telescope, Meron insults her with a lascivious comment. Before Lessa can get satisfaction with him, Fandarel picks Meron up bodily and moves him to the farthest permissible point away from the telescope, setting him down roughly. Fandarel's actions to protect Lessa from the narrative are so noted.

Anyway, Lessa steps up to the telescope and we see the surface of the Red Star for the first time, with polar ice caps, clouds, and gray masses. It looks like... a planet. After Lessa leaves, others stepping up to the eyepiece react in fright and want to know why they can see so well, despite it being dark. Fandarel explains albedo and the fact that planets exist in three-dimensional orbits, so light from the sun can still reflect off the Red Star. (Again, the scientific knowledge available to a supposedly-medieval pastiche is quite extensive. Perhaps this is what would have been if not for the Vandals, Goths, and others destroying and scattering the knowledge of Greece and Rome in our time.) Then, as the Lords squabble over what they have seen, the Masterglasssmith, Wansor, answers their questions about whether the grey stuff is land, why the Red Star had clouds, and so forth, in his best scientific way - admitting when the information is incomplete or when they don't know.

We find Meron's true purpose at the gathering not soon after - to accuse Robinton of being in the pocket of Benden Weyr, which gets Robinton ready to defend his honor as Meron accuses Robinton of having an attraction to Lessa. Which Robinton deftly dismisses by saying he's more interested in Benden wine than Benden Weyrwomen. Which is a rather misogynist statement - "I think wine is more interesting than this woman. How ugly she is. Bitches, amirite?" But Robinton has gauged his audience correctly, and his indication that he's part of Team Misogyny is just right to defuse the situation. 

And then he turns around and gives a The Reason You Suck speech to the assembled Lords Holder, correctly detailing the unknowns (the grey masses could all be Thread, it's possible the clouds are not water clouds, and so some form of protection may be needed, and it's possible that others have gone and failed). Wansor picks up those threads, detailing the needs for more observations, but Meron continues, obstinately, demanding a specific time for an attempt, and then claiming that fire-lizards eating Thread should be enough to keep all the lands clear.

Which actually plays to Lessa, and she sweetly offers to make sure the Weyr that normally covers Meron's lands doesn't sweep them for Thread. And then gives him a much-abbreviated version of a The Reason You Suck speech, holding the lives of the innocents as more important than Meron's stupidity. She even offers a subtle quid pro quo - if the Lords Holder want anything done to Kylara with regard to Wirenth and Prideth, they need to do something to Meron for his involvement. Since the Lords Holder are all about Team Bros Before Hos, that pretty well settles the matter of Kylara. 

I'm surprised the narrative doesn't immediately strike her down where she stands for all of this action. Maybe because she only feinted instead of attacking?

After the viewing party breaks up, Robinton asks whether Lessa is in favor of the Red Star jump.

> "It scares me. It scares me because it seems so likely that someone must have tried. Sometime. It just doesn't seem logical..."
> 
> "Is there any record that someone, besides yourself, jumped so far _between_ times?"
> 
> "No." She had to admit it. "But then, there hadn't been such need."
> 
> "And there's no need now to take this other kind of a jump?"
> 
> "Don't unsettle me more....How can we know? How can we be sure?"
> 
> "How were you sure the Question Song could be answered - by you?"

While it's nice to see that Lessa does have fear of something (and a rather smart one, at that), Robinton, these things are not alike. There is a lack of records about a time-jumping Weyrwoman because her future self needs to not see her successes so that she decides to go back and succeed. It's very Stable Time Loop requirements that demand the excision of records. A hop to the Red Star may not carry any records because everyone who went could easily die without returning or having their corpses analyzed to assist the next team. Even if they could hit the right space-time coordinates, there's no guarantee the environment there would be hospitable enough for anyone. So Lessa has a well-justified fear here - the environment is so alien that it's likely everyone who tried died without leaving any useful information. As opposed to dying in an attempt to time skip to somewhere that is at least known to be habitable.

The next morning, Lessa repeats her fears to the Weyrleader, and reports on the success of his experiment with grubs - N'ton substituted for the Brown Rider Rapist and had proven to be very discreet. The Weyrleader wants to discuss the results with N'ton. Who arrives, unbidden, a few moments later, with Wansor, who has discovered that Pern and the Red Star are not the only planets in the sky and that the Red Star also has its own rotation, independent of Pern. Wansor would like to put carved lenses into place at the Weyr so as to allow for observations.

Afterward, N'ton is sent on a journey to gather grubs from all over the Southern Continent, as the Weyrleader is fairly convinced they are intended to be the ground protection against Thread. N'ton shares this perspective, as well as the likelihood that grubs became a problem in the north because a secret that should have been communicated didn't go through because someone died. The chapter comes to a close with more of the Weyrleader's annoyance at his continued sickness.


	14. Out of the Mouths of Kids

Last time, Robinton proved he had more empathy in him than the Lords Holder and the dragonriders combined. There was also telescope-viewing of the Red Star, and the confirmation that Southern grubs were meant as the second line of defense against Thread, after dragons in the air.

**Dragonquest: Chapters XIV-XV: Content Notes: Depression, mental regression, slut-shaming**

I'm going to open up Chapter XIV's commentary with an extensive quote, because Jaxom (whose perspective we have to start the chapter) is so painfully observant about everything that has happened up to this point that it confirms for me that these terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad decisions in the narrative are all deliberate and have been thought through, which increases their ick factor logarithmically.

> He [Jaxom] had never shaken off his sense of blasphemy from invading the Hatching Ground, and he wondered if this were his punishment. But he was a logical boy and the deaths of the two queens had not occurred at Ruatha, not over Fort Weyr to which Ruatha Hold was bound. He'd never met Kylara or Brekke. He did know F'nor and felt sorry for him if half what he'd heard was true - that F'nor had taken Brekke into his weyr and had abandoned his duties as a Wing-second to care for her. She was very sick. Funny, everyone was sorry for Brekke but no one mentioned Kylara, and she'd lost a queen, too.
> 
> Jaxom wondered about that but _knew_ he couldn't ask. Just as he couldn't ask if he and Lytol were going to the Hatching.  
>  [...]  
>  Not that anyone had done much more than Thread-watch since the wedding at Telgar.
> 
> Jaxom sighed. That had been some day. He shivered, remembered how sick, cold, and - yes - scared he'd been. (Lytol said a **man** wasn't afraid to admit to fear.) All the time he'd seen F'lar fighting T'ron, he'd been scared.[...]Everything was going wrong on Pern. Dragon queens killing each other, Weyrleaders dueling in public, Thread falling here and there, with no rhyme or reason.[...]It wasn't fair. Everything had been going so well.

Jaxom, never change, please. Keep that sharp observing eye of yours, and keep empathy for everyone. Jaxom understands that something is very wrong with the Brown Rider Rapist, that everyone is conspicuously shunning Kylara for some reason, and that everyone is on edge over fighting dragonriders and out-of-phase Thread. Since they are noticed by Jaxom, they were meant to be there. Which makes them deliberate, and exceedingly more icky and problematic because of it.

One good thing, though - props to Lytol, who is instilling in Jaxom a conception of masculinity that explicitly says it's okay to be scared out of your mind. This is different than the performance masculinity he's getting from other Lords Holder, his peer children, and the Weyrbred fosterlings. I think Lytol's conception is superior, and will pay dividends further down the line. Lytol also refused fire-lizard eggs earlier on, which Jaxom is miffed at, so there's still some work to do in getting Jaxom to check his privilege and think of his office less as getting himself things and more of providing protection to those under his care.

In any case, it turns out that Jaxom and Lytol are going to the Hatching at Benden, where Brekke will be represented as a candidate for a new queen dragon. Since we're staying with Jaxom (and Felessan) at this point, though, Jaxom's attention is focused completely on an egg that's been pushed aside - the egg that Jaxom touched. Until the candidates arrive, that is, and then all eyes are on the dragons, including the hatching queen - whom all the other girls defer to Brekke as the first candidate to try and Impress.

Brekke doesn't. Her fire-lizard actively interferes with it, no less, and another girl Impresses (the candidate from Ruatha. How... something). With all the dragons hatched, everyone else turns to leave. Except Jaxom, whose empathy overflows, and who is the only one to notice that the small egg that nobody is paying attention to is showing signs of wanting to hatch. So Jaxom helps out, cracking the outer shell and using his knife to cut through membrane holding in... a white dragon. Whose name, Jaxom tells us, is Ruth.

Everyone else noticing this, while nobody explicitly says anything profane, basically thinks, "Shit."

And that's chapter XIV.

Chapter XV shows us that Brekke had been cured of her depression, brought out by her experience at the Hatching. Regrettably, the narrative's price for returning Brekke to the land of the aware is that she, like Lessa, is now devoted to her rapist. Brekke uncorks her long-held grief and starts to cry for everything, which is apparently okay for a little bit, but after a while, Manora slaps Brekke and then dunks her in a bathing pool to snap her out of her grief. Well, now I know where both half-brothers get that particular idea on how to relate to others. And Brekke thanks her for the abuse.

Not that she's out of the woods yet. Any time she remembers the tragedy, the depression threatens to swallow her back up, prompting the dragons and fire-lizards to interfere. Brekke is safely bundled off to sleep with a bowl of broth and a sleeping draught, served to her in a no-nonsense manner by her own fosterling, Mirrim. Who then hustles out the Brown Rider Rapist with a directive to get his dragon fed before settling in to watch Brekke. 

Once Brekke falls asleep, we shift over to the party after the Hatching, where Lessa is happy for Jaxom, but extremely worried about what Jaxom's actions are going to mean and do for politics. Because he's a Holder with a dragon, instead of all the fire-lizards being distributed to the other Holders. She doesn't think the white dragon will prosper: Ramoth tells her she's wrong. And Lessa finally explicitly mulls over the idea of succession at Ruatha, and ultimately concludes that she wants to keep Jaxom there, since he has some small part of the Bloodline she has, so it's okay. Anybody else is fucked, though.

And I just can't believe this. I can believe Lessa saying "Well, I'm not likely to go back, and things seem to be going okay, so I guess Jaxom can stay." I can believe "I want to keep Ruatha close to me, so I should be friendly with Lytol and Jaxom so that I can still interfere at Ruatha." But "Jaxom is part of my bloodline, so he's all right in charge there", no fucking way. If Lessa really believes purity of bloodline is what's needed there, then she wants herself to rule, because her blood is purest. So, if we want a consistent Lessa, there must be some other reason she's okay with Jaxom and Lytol staying in charge (for now), and it should probably have something to do with keeping and making alliances.

So Lytol and Robinton, who are apparently matching each other cup for cup of wine, declare that Jaxom has to stay in the Hold, while other Holders say that Jaxom had to go to the Weyr because he Impressed a dragon. Lessa takes advantage of the drinking to use her Sith Force powers to lean on the minds of the Holders and bring them around to the idea that Jaxom should stay at Ruatha. The Lord Holders cannot be dissuaded, though, leaving Jaxom to plead his case, which he does admirably, holding his own against the bigger and older Holders. Lessa's instinct to interfere is curbed by Robinton, who shows that he's a lot more sober than his act suggested, and by Lytol, who stands by his ward.

The situation with Jaxom resolved, Robinton, Lessa, and F'lar go to the secret experimental chambers with the Masterfarmer, who was just flown in to examine the grubs. He has the same reaction as the Masterherdsman, and specifically mentions that Farmer lore says to watch for the grubs...and then realizes what he's just said. _Watch_ for the grubs, not destroy them. Which brings him around immediately to the idea that the grubs are beneficial, although he's confused about the purpose of dragonriders in a world where the grubs can eat all the Thread and repair any plants struck by spores. Robinton mentions that wood pulp paper can be used to store and disseminate knowledge, so the practices of the various Crafts can be preserved and spread everywhere, over the Masterfarmer's objections that some knowledge should remain Craft secrets. Before he leaves, though, the Masterfarmer is converted to the cause of spreading the grubs, and will work to get his Craft to do the same, even though he would much prefer to have the flashiness of the dragonriders to the boring, ugly practicality of the grubs.

And just when we thought we'd coast in to the end of a chapter, the Masterfarmer asks about Kylara...

> "What of that adulterous transgressor?"
> 
> "She - lives," and there was an uncompromising echo of the Farmer's coldness in Lessa's voice.
> 
> "She lives?" The Masterfarmer stopped again, dropping Lessa's arm and staring at her in anger. "She lives? Her throat should be cut, her body..."
> 
> "She lives, Masterfarmer, with no more mind or wit than a babe! She exists in the prison of her guilt! Dragonfolk take no lives!"

...and there goes my hope that we'd be able to get through two chapters without a Whatfruit.

_[Add 1 Cocowhat and stir.]_

First, narrative, I hate you for putting both Kylara and Brekke into a situation where they were attacked viciously, because they were both independent-thinking women who wanted progress, or at the very least, to be treated seriously.

Second, unless I am severely mistaken about what we have been told about Weyr culture, the Masterfarmer just _grossly insulted_ Kylara, an insult Lessa is willing to let slide because she blames Kylara for everything, too. From what we are _told_ about Weyr culture, their sexual attitudes do not care much about monogamous pairings, especially for queen riders, because any bronze could theoretically fly the queen at any flight. (They, presumably, are also a-OK with male-male partnerships, since men ride green dragons.) Weyrs raise all the children collectively to avoid parental attachments suffering when pairings of riders change based on mating fights. There should be very little conception of marriage among those born and raised in a Weyr (or those raised in the Weyr from a young age), so the idea of adultery should be nonexistent, and its suggestion (that someone should be punished because they slept with someone other than their preferred partner) taken as a slur, an attempt to impose inferior Hold (or Craft) morals on the dragonriders that have transcended them.

Or, it would be if dragonriders behaved according to what we've been told about Weyr culture. What we've been _shown_ , on the other hand, is that Weyr culture functions much more similarly to the Holds and Crafthalls. Of the named rider pairings we've seen involving queen dragons, except for Kylara, they're all monogamous between Weyrleader and Weyrwoman (or want to be monogamous, in Brekke's case) in a very marriage-like setup. Kylara's tastes and willingness to actively satisfy her sexual appetites are regularly shamed and disparaged by other characters, and is used as the justification for the Brown Rider Rapist's violation of Brekke. Green dragons' active sex desires are routinely used as running jokes or other indications of their lesser status. We also see no male-male partnerships at all. From what's been shown to us, dragonriders are just as prudish about sex as everyone else. And so the Masterfarmer's insult is un-remarked-upon.

The end of chapter XV is upon us. Only one more to go.


	15. Dark Reprise

Last time, Jaxom Impressed. Which touched off some politics. And a flagrant insult to Kylara. Also, the plot to bring grubs north from the southern continent proceeds apace.

**Dragonquest: Chapter XVI: Content Notes: Animal abuse, Existential Terror**

It's the last chapter, everyone! Let's see if we can't get through it without major content issues.

I'm told optimism is healthy, after all.

Chapter XVI opens promisingly, with an extended report on the difficulty of convincing everyone of the plot to seed the north with grubs. Fandarel and Terry give their approval (and a new prototype for capturing Thread more efficiently) and mention the irritation they are suffering at being unable to work on shielding the telegraph cables because of so much Threadfall and flamethrower jams. Robinton is playing diplomacy with the Holders, but they're really insisting that the expedition to the Red Star happen sooner rather than later, despite the continued inability to find good coordinates for a hyperspace hop. The Lord of Telgar is particularly obstinate, not even accepting Wansor's theory that planets that are close to each other affect each other, which explains the out-of-phase Threadfall. (Which, you know, planetary gravity will do just that, which means Pern could theoretically have discovered the very far out planets of the Sol system long before the inhabitants of Terra were able to make the calculations.) He and Meron get extra people spying on them to make sure they don't make moves that disrupt the plan.

Brekke takes an interest in the plan, with the data being relayed though the Brown Rider Rapist, and her brain seizes on the idea that Meron might attempt to send his bronze fire-lizard all the way there, so she asks the riders to keep an eye out for that possibility. Brekke's instincts appear to be right. Furthermore, the dragonriders are starting to realize that the cloud formations over the Red Star could be the recognizable marks to use to send the dragons over to attack. Which makes Lessa worried, because F'lar of the Immense Ego, Figurehead Extraordinaire, will _totally_ jump to the Red Star once he thinks he can manage it, so that he can save the world singlehandedly.

Things come to a head, though, with Meron at Fort Weyr, when not only does Canth confirm how cruel Meron is to his fire-lizard, Canth interferes with an abuse situation by startling Meron enough for the fire-lizard to escape and do its own hyperspace hop. This sets Meron off entirely, resulting in his swift banning from Fort as he continues to insist that the dragonriders are just hiding their confirmed coordinates from the Holders as a power play to keep the Holders subject to the Weyrs. The Brown Rider Rapist wonders what Meron sees through the telescope, and suggests to his fire-lizard going there. Which, naturally, freaks the fire-lizard out.

> Terror, horror, a whirling many-faceted impression of heat, violent winds, burning breathlessness sent him [the BrnRR] staggering against N'ton as Grall, with a fearful shriek, launched herself from his hands and disappeared.

Which is probably the most clear sign that the Red Star is inhospitable to visitors a dragonrider will receive. The Brown Rider Rapist ignores the warning signs, privileging the knowledge that the coordinates he sent to Grall are good enough for Canth over the fire-lizard's clear "back the fuck off" signals.

Sound familiar?

There's no small pride in being able to steal his brother's thunder on this, too, and it clicks into place for him why Brekke was very interested in distracting him from that idea (including blatant come-hithers) earlier. Again, rather than taking this as a warning sign that what he's doing is extremely dangerous, he still thinks he can just jaunt over, get a really good look, use Ramoth as the relay tower so that every dragonrider knows where to send themselves later for the invasion.

So, before we see the consequences of this trip, let me point out that Meron is correct about the dragonriders having coordinates, but his reasons are half-wrong - it's that no dragonrider was ready to risk themselves on something less than a sure bet - that form of "cowardice" we call the survival instinct.

So, Canth makes the hop.

> Canth started to open his wings and screamed in agony as they were wrenched back. The snapping of his strong fore-limbs went unheard in the incredible roar of the furnace-hot tornadic winds that seized them from the relative calm off the downdraft. There was air enveloping on the Red Star - a burning hot air, whipped to flame-heat by burning turbulences. The helpless dragon and rider were like a feather, dropped hundreds of lengths only to be slammed upward, end over end, with hideous force. As they tumbled, their minds paralyzed by the holocaust they had entered, F'nor had a nightmare glimpse of the gray surfaces toward and away from which they were alternately thrown and removed: the Neratian tip was a wet, slick gray that writhed and bubbled and oozed. Then they were thrown into the reddish cloud that were shot with nauseating grays and whites, here and there torn by massive orange rivers of lightning. A thousand hot points burned the unprotected skin of F'nor's face, pitted Canth's hide, penetrating each lid over the dragon's eyes. The overwhelming, multilevel sound of the cyclonic atmosphere battered their minds ruthlessly to unconsciousness.
> 
> Then they were hurled into the awesome calm of a funnel of burning, sand-filled heat and fell toward the surface - crippled and impotent.
> 
> Painridden, F'nor had only one thought as his senses failed him. The Weyr! The Weyr must be warned!

Okay, that is _excellent_ writing. The sense of utter panic comes across really well, without any bravado, macho bullshit, or anything beyond the immediate need to stay alive.

_[It will also have an echo that causes much more senseless damage and death than this one in the Todd boos, as another Confirmed Asshole Weyrleader realizes too late that not only has he doomed himself, but his entire Weyr to destruction, and his child, trying to take the warning to heart, will apparently warp himself without proper visualization and entomb himself in rock, becoming the excavated corpse in the rock that was part of earlier material. Serial escalation is definitely a thing.]_

A pettier me might snark about how cocky the Brown Rider Rapist feels now that he's met something stronger than he is, but I'm reserving that kind of commentary for when Brekke kicks him in the testicles and tells him to fly _between_ without coming back as she leaves.

Instead, we get to see Brekke panic again, this time over the Brown Rider Rapist and Canth going to the Red Star, and the dragons are all in distress over the beating the two are receiving at the Red Star. And Brekke screams her worst fear, with sufficient force that it breaks blood vessels in her eyes. "Don't Leave Me Alone." Because she knows, with the experience of having lost Wirenth, just what alone means. Knowing that if she loses them, the darkness that she's been fighting off, the one that threatens to swallow her completely and return her to the catatonic state, will come back and will take over again. The one that everyone has basically left Kylara to suffer under, without any help, or even empathy, because Brekke is virtuous and Kylara wicked.

So Brekke has to watch as the dragons mobilize to break the fall of the unconscious Canth. And then, she remembers some long-forgotten lore and performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the Brown Rider Rapist until he can breathe on his own. And then, Canth is there, and Brekke screams her relief - "I am not alone" - and passes out.

And this is touching and wonderful and really needs a nice soundtrack swell and a great fade to black, roll credits. If only the whole thing wasn't based on a rape, and a preventable disaster, and a narrative that punished a woman for having feminist opinions. It sours what should otherwise be the moment of the Triumph of the Heart. I cannot interpret this really good, heartwarming scene apart from the sheer awful that happened earlier in the book. Which is why I'm still hoping that after he recovers, the Brown Rider Rapist finds himself bereft of Brekke and on the bad side of the Benden Weyrleaders, so that some small amount of punishment can be given to those that deserve it.

Then, after what would be the credit roll for this movie, to close out the chapter, there is yet another demonstration of the effectiveness of grubs during live Threadfall. Groghe, Lord Holder of Fort, isn't ready to accept the power of grubs, even though Meron has, and would still prefer to send attackers to the Red Star. The Brown Rider Rapist and Canth will recover, and the Benden Weyrleader thinks that when the grubs have finally taken hold, it will be time for dragonriders to go explore the other planets of the star system, assuming that at least one of them will be hospitable for dragons and riders. Even though he has no real reason to believe this is true, but now that he's said it, the narrative will ensure that he gets everything he wants. Anyone attempting to upstage him, as has been demonstrated, will suffer at the narrative's hands.

Next up: the Harper Hall trilogy, which will hopefully have less awful, before we come back to the third volume in this cycle, The White Dragon. There are again, appendices of material that contains spoilers and then some, so it will also be skipped for this book. So the question of whether or not a successful assault will be mounted against the Red Star will have to wait.


End file.
